The Fourth Year
by Miss Starfire
Summary: SEQUEL TO THE THIRD YEAR. Usually three is a crowd but not when the third person is your son. Follow Tony and Pepper as they try to balance the woes of parenthood above the responsibilities of their already busy lives. Story 6 of 8 of The Last Chronicles.
1. Prologue

**Summary:** SEQUEL TO THE THIRD YEAR. Usually three is a crowd but not when the third person is your son. Follow Tony and Pepper as they try to balance the woes of parenthood above the responsibilities of their already busy lives. Story 6 of 8 of The Last Chronicles.

**Standard disclaimer for all my stories**: My stories are graphic, angsty, frustrating, filled with cliffhangers, drama and foul language. Read at your own risk – medical issues and subsequent bills are not covered by yours truly ;) If you don't like, please don't read. I appreciate reviews and constructive feedback but if you cannot stand the plot, save yourself and me some time and walk away. You don't have to love all IMAA stories :) I don't own IMAA. My stories are better viewed by using the "half screen" option of FFNET

_**THIS IS A SEQUEL TO THE THIRD YEAR. Start with The Last Month, then The Last Summer, then The First Year, The Second Year, The Third Year and just read your way here.**_

_**READ THOSE FIRST OR BE FOREVER CONFUSED!**_

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**The Fourth Year**

**Prologue**

He had been wracking his brain all night, searching his memory for an explanation, but he had not been able to find one just yet. Even if it seemed as if there was none, even if his high intelligence demanded that he put the pieces of fuzzy puzzle together into a coherent, clear picture, he had failed at doing so. It did not make any sense to him; the reality that Happy Hogan's comment had opened his eyes to – it just did not make any sense to him at all.

This was not as if he had just forgotten to do his homework in school, or send a greeting card for someone's birthday, or even close the damned toilet seat lid after using it only to be not-so-kindly reminded by his fiancée that the action drove her crazy. No. This was far more important than that; this was something no man should ever forget, especially not one that could remember hundreds of lines of code and recall them all at will.

_How can this baby be mine? It's not…it's not possible!_

It was not as if he did not _want _this baby to be his; that was not the case at all. He was excited by the premise, thrilled even, but his happiness would not be completely settled and personally filling until he was able to explain to himself _how_ in the hell had Pepper ended up pregnant with his kid!

His. Kid.

_My son. I…I have a son._

Suddenly, he felt like throwing up again.

He stood up from his favorite seat in the Makluan Temple and began pacing the room once more – just as he had been doing so all night ever since he had left the hospital to analyze the situation. He was due at the hospital to see Pepper in a few hours again when morning visiting hours arrived, but the idea of facing her after what he had just learned made his stomach churn.

He knew she had the answers he was searching for. He knew that whatever he had failed to see or understand she would clear up for him – or so he hoped. Was she even aware that this baby was his? How had Happy known before he had? How long had Pepper been keeping this from him?

He stopped his pacing when he ended up standing by his work table where the results of the paternity test he had forced the hospital to run for him overnight lay. It was one of the benefits of being close friends with one of the most tenured doctors there, and of course of being a fucking gazillionaire; instant results.

He sighed and opened the folder to read the result again, and regardless of how many times he had read the lab work during the night, he just could not believe what the results meant; what they entailed for him. The baby, Pepper's baby, was his. He, Tony Stark had become a father overnight.

_I can't believe Pepper lied to me_, he thought bitterly even though he knew judging her without listening to her side of the story was not the best way to approach her. _I can't believe she let me believe this was Scott's baby! That she let Scott think it was his! That she…that she…UGH!_

How many more people knew besides Happy? Did Dr. Adler know? Was Doctor Ross aware? How about Nurse Owens? Had they all been in on it? Why had they never told him anything? He had the right to know! It was his son for fucks sake! Why did anyone not bother to let him know that Pepper was carrying his child?

He collapsed on the floor, closed his eyes and clenched his head between his hands. Nothing was making sense to him and it was starting to give him another headache. He truly did not want to be mad at Pepper; he really, really did not, but…

_How could she do this to me? How could she string me along like this?_

Was this why she had accepted his marriage proposal, because they would have no option but to get married? Had she been planning on telling him after the birth? Or had she hoped that the baby would not resemble him? Or, maybe, she had just hoped that he was too clueless not to see the signs that the baby was his.

_Well_, he thought with disdain, _she had a point there_.

If it had not been for Happy Hogan pointing out that Pepper was adopted, if it had not been for the jock's blatant hint, he would have never, EVER even considered that the baby was his. Why would he, anyway? He had not slept with Pepper in forever before he had found out she was with child. Yes, they had been sleeping together ever since, but nine months before the birth… The times they had slept together since then had been without the use of protection; there had seemed no need since she was already pregnant. Had the Extremis in his body entered hers and then somehow _hijacked_ what was originally Scott's baby and transformed it into his while in the womb?

_No_, he shook his head. _It's not possible, Extremis doesn't work that way. So then what…_

"Fuck this. I need to talk to her." The inventor said, his eyes opened again and he jumped to his feet. He immediately called on his suit and did not even wait for it to be completely secured around his body before he ran toward the front door of the Temple, completing forgoing using the exit chute. By the time his feet were outside, the armor covered every inch of his body, and before he could back down from finally facing his ginger, he sped his way to the hospital in the blink of an eye.

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**A/N:** Who wants more? Welcome back, everyone!


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Sorry about the delay, my Faithful Readers! But, like I said before, I've been very busy and I don't have these chapters ready as I did before. I hope you still enjoy the story, though! As always, I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts in your reviews and thank you everyone for reading/reviewing/favoring/following. Those little notification e-mails in my inbox truly make my day… and also make me drop whatever else I'm doing and get to writing the next chapter that much faster *hinthint*

**IMPORTANT NOTE as of 3/21/14:** This chapter has been altered from its original release and is now merged with The Interlude chapter. Nothing else has been changed.

**Guest Review Responses**

**Me me me! I want more! **– There's plenty more where that came from! Sit tight! :D

**pepperony4evah: Well, what if pepper doesn't know either! I mean pepper had been sleeping with scott at the time. No reason for her to think that the baby is someone's who she had slept over a year ago! Extremis can't do that. Nothing ever can do that. Extremis can alter the genetic composition as a whole but not change the paternal half of it in to something completely the baby can never have been scott's. It was our geniuse's from the beginning. Either baby has been by asexual fusion of ovum and sperm or else pepper has undergone some mutation **– I have no idea why FFNET is doing that to the reviews :/ But I got the idea of what you're saying and some of your very good questions will get answered in this chapter.

**Hola!... Por supuesto que Pep no sabía que Tony era el padre... Pero estoy muy curiosa por saber como se resultó siéndolo!. Un punto aparta, me asusta un poco la ilustración que colocaste para este año de la saga :s ... **– Really? Why does the pic scare you? I'm curious about that :) I mean, you _should_ be scared but…wait, uhm…I-I didn't say anything _

**shreya:- thats.. impossible! how can he be Tony's son? I can't understand.. I can only wait for you to answer this super duper puzzled puzzle..! **– It's a weird puzzle, indeed!

**Toni: YAY!So many questions. Can't choose one! Ah, Tony, how could Pepper have known. Good thing he plans on talking to her. Maybe then we'll get some answers :) **– Some answers are in this chapter and a major answer in the next one ^_^

**Grrr... this is the worst cliffhanger ever! Update soon! **– Really? More than Pepper falling off the building? Or finding out this was Tony's baby? Or when Tony told Maya to get married right now? Or… you know what? You're right. Too many cliffies around here XD

**I've got this guess about what gene had removed from tony's mind, but it's probably not that since you always surprise us by coming up with the best and craziest ideas ever! Can't wait for next chapter! **– It's probably what you have in mind, but I think the timing of it will surprise you :) And, crazy ideas? Hehehe… you ain't seen nothing yet!

**Apps: THANX...Pls update...the curiosity is biting hard...!** – Here's the update. Though it may not satiate the curiosity but give you more :P

**pepperony4evah: Pepper is nuts. So is Tony. Gene too is a nutcase for going along with whatever pepper or tony asks him to do. People with similar personalities stick together. Naturally these three will stick together. Personally i feel so sorry for Gene. He's like an arecanut stuck in a nutcraker being crushed on both sides by the idiotic stubborn decision of pepper and tony.** You feel sorry for Gene now? *sigh* It gets worse for him :(

**No Way!... nunca lo vi venir!, me atrapaste, no creo que haya manera de que alguien pudiese anticipar el papel de Gene... dejaste alguna pista¿?. Veo que estamos abandonando el formato de: un capítulo-un mes. Actualiza pronto pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaase!** – Did I leave any clues about this? Yup, yup! The first clue (albeit very well hidden, I think) was in the Prologue to _The Second Year_ when Rhodey tells Tony that he would be mad if Pepper ever messed with his mind like he did (it was more like foreshadowing, actually). Then, the second clue was in Chapter 1 of _The Third Year_ on this line: _"She had not heard from Maya in weeks and she did not blame her for it either. Pepper had politely declined via e-mail her request to be her maid of honor a few days after Scott's birthday party __**even though at some point she believed her help would no longer be needed anymore**__. __**She had been mistaken, of course, but that did not mean that she wanted to be there to see Tony say 'I do' to the brunette." **_This hint will make more sense after you finish reading this chapter. The third hint was also in Chapter 1 of _The Third Year_, with this line: _"She knew he did but she was not sure if she herself was ready to __**hear his words again.**__"_ Hear his words again. As in, he had already done what he was about to do. Again, it will make more sense after this chapter. Another thing, also C1 from _The Third Year_; this line: _"Whatever excuse she was about to give died on her lips when he fell to his knees before her. __**He had done this in the past; it was not new to her**__, but that never made the gesture lose its meaning when it came from _him_."_ Another one, same chapter but also one that only makes sense after reading this Interlude chapter: _"Pepper bit her bottom lip, wanting nothing more than to take him up on his offer but she knew she could not; not so quickly and maybe even not at all. It was __**too impulsive; too spontaneous to be healthy for trying to rebuild what they had lost**__." _The next hint was in C3 of The Third Year, here: _"Why was she not letting him go further? Pepper scoffed at the thought. She knew very well why, and if he knew why too, he would probably stop any and all advances on her, right now. Or would he? __**He's really not one to talk!"**_Pepper was thinking that she had been reluctant to move forward with Tony because she felt guilty about what she had done to his memories. In addition, the line "He's really not one to talk!" refers to her thinking that since he had done the memory reconfiguration first, he really couldn't complain if it was done to him – which, she did XD Oh! And the format is still going to be one chapter- one month. Typically, the Prologues take place the same month the first chapter happens, and same goes for the Epilogues (I think only two of those are an exception). These chapters will be much shorter, though.

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**Chapter 1: March**

The roles were reversed this time, and if the situation had not been so tense, the eyewitnesses of Tony's angry stomping toward Pepper's room would have found the situation to be highly comical. It was just as that time after Pepper had first been told by Roy – the rude nurse man who poked fun at her nickname – that Tony was rich, owned a company and had been caring for her only because he felt responsible for her situation, and she had been extremely mad at finding out such important information from a person whose guts she could not stand.

The way in which everyone had felt pity for Tony before he had walked inside the room to confront an upset Pepper way back then was nothing in comparison to what they felt for the ginger as they observed Tony's ire-filled face as he made his way toward her room. The tables were turned, and this time, the one who should be happy to have already written her will, would be Pepper Potts. Except that she was still asleep since yesterday, and she did not know that Tony was extremely mad.

"Son, please, calm down." Howard implored the blue-eyed boy, stood in his way and held onto the inventor's upper arm for good measure. "You shouldn't walk in there right now when you're this angry."

Tony narrowed his eyes at his father and pulled his arm away from him. He then stared all around him and eyed each and every single person in the hall outside Pepper's room – Happy, Howard, Roberta, Virgil, Loretta, and even Jarvis – and he could immediately tell by the way they were all staring at him that everyone knew the truth about the baby. The truth that he was angry had been kept from him.

"When did you find out?" Tony snapped at his father and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Why didn't any of you tell me?"

"We found out the same way you did," Roberta said in an even tone, her years as an attorney enabling her to keep her composure. "We saw the baby, and then Happy confirmed it. And we didn't tell you because it's not our place to do so."

"Besides," Virgil began with a shrug. "You were already too concerned about what the labor did to Pepper that we didn't see any reason to give you more to worry about."

"Well, someone here didn't give a damn about it and told me anyway," Tony said and his eyes landed on Happy, glared at him as hard as he could, but the jock was not at all intimidated and just gave him a shrug.

"Pepper and I had a deal," Happy began. "If she didn't tell you before the baby was born, then I'd tell you because I'd want to know if someone just gave birth to my kid."

"So, you knew about it a long time ago? And you didn't tell me?"

"Actually, I've only known for a couple of weeks, but maybe Pepper should tell you everything and not me."

"Or maybe you should tell me right now." Tony said in a menacing tone. "Maybe you should stop playing these fucking games with me and tell me everything you know!"

"Dude, chill out and stop it with the 'maybes.' It's not like Pepper did this on purpose. Don't make me congratulate you on having a kid AND kick your ass on the same day for being a fucking jerk."

"What's that, Hogan?" Tony asked, fists clenched and already preparing to fight the jock. "You think you can take me on?"

Happy simply rolled his eyes and shook his head while everyone else tensed up and stared at each other, silently asking one another when and if to intervene. Even as adults with more experience in the matter, believing they knew what to do in certain situations and actually acting on that belief were two completely different animals.

"See what I mean?" He pointed at Tony. "Is this how you're going to talk to Pepper about it, angry as fuck? Please don't be an asshole to her; she just had your baby and almost didn't make it out alive."

Tony's retort became irrelevant to the argument he already knew he had lost, but he still pursed his lips in anger. He glared at Happy once more but the man did not even flinch and when Tony's shoulders deflated, everyone knew the fight was over. A second later, Tony shook his head and sighed before he turned around and walked around his father who this time did not stop him. He silently walked towards the door to Pepper's hospital room, inhaled deeply and walked inside.

Thankfully for him, she was still being kept in the private room he had ordered she remained in – one that was amped up in accommodations and was guarded by undercover bodyguards from Stark Solutions, at that. In his left hand he held the folder with the paternity test results and with his right hand he closed and locked the door behind him. He really did not need any of the people outside barging in uninvited, especially if they had already made up their minds that Pepper's decision not to tell Tony about the baby being his was hers and hers alone to make.

_He's __**my**__ son._ He thought again. _Half of him is me so I have a right to make decisions about him, too._

Such as decisions to give him up for adoption, for one; the thought of it made his blood boil again.

_She could've given him up and I'd never have known he was mine. I would've ended up not knowing my first child never knew who his real father was._

He clenched his jaw in anger but took in deep breaths to remain as calm as possible. As much as he hated to accept it, Happy was correct; shouting and accusing Pepper of the worst crimes in the world would do nothing good for either of them. Besides, he was not one to judge anyone else for irrational behavior; most of his own actions were the very definition of irrationality galore – most especially when it related to anything regarding Pepper and him, for that matter.

He stared at the chair that he had brought over yesterday after his battle with Rhona, and as he was about to walk over to collect it, he heard the redhead groan and moan as she stirred awake and began slowly sitting up in bed. She was yet to realize that he was in the room, so he made sure not to make any sudden movements so he would not startle her and remained as still as possible by the door.

She yawned loudly and scratched her disheveled, long hair and tried to somewhat make it look more presentable by running her fingers through her red waves. She blinked a few times to adjust her eyesight to the dim lights in the room and then rubbed her eyelids with her index fingers. She then yawned again, silently this time, and when her head straightened out and she looked to her left towards the door and saw him standing there, a smile formed on her face.

The last time she had seen him he had been hitting himself for having to leave her during mid-birth, but she knew as well as he did that Rhona had to be dealt with. In fact, she briefly wondered how that mission had gone, but she figured now was not the time to talk about it and that the fact that he was standing here with no visible wounds was already a good sign.

"Hey," she whispered. "Just got here?"

"Yeah," he responded as neutral as possible. "Just walked in."

Her smile widened even more but it then soon disappeared when she noticed something was off with Tony's current behavior. She tilted her head to the side and furrowed her brows, and when she noticed that he had a folder in his hands with the logo of the hospital on the front, she panicked and frowned.

"Oh, no," she began and pulled the blanket off her legs. "Is the baby alright? Oh, my God! Did something happen to him?" She jumped off the bed and tried running toward him but the effort of it combined with the stress of the day – weeks before made her body halt her sudden move by sending a spike of pain through her. "Ugh!"

Seeing her knees hit the floor and her eyes close in pain was all that Tony had to see for his anger to be placed on the backburner for now. He ran toward her, threw the folder on the table next to the bed and then held her by the shoulders as she bent over in ache. "The baby is fine," he replied to her to help her relax while his eyes scanned her for any signs of major injury. "He's doing great."

"You-you sure?" She asked with only one eye opened.

"Yes," he answered and brushed her hair off her face. "We can go seem him later, if you want. What about you? Are you OK?"

"I'm alright," she assured him in between clenched teeth. "I'm alright, it's just…I…I shouldn't had moved like that."

"Do you want me to call Dr. Ross or Dr. Adler?"

"No," she shook her head. "I'm OK. Just, just help me get back on the bed. Please?"

"Alright," he said and in a second had her up from the floor. Even though the bed was just two feet away from them, he did not move from where he stood as he held her in his arms and his eyes stared at her hazel ones even though she was not looking at him. Pepper took deep, short breaths while the pain went away and as she did so she surrounded his shoulders with her arms and pressed the side of her face against his chest. He waited until she looked composed and when her eyes stared back at him, he could not help but to feel guilty for what he had almost done had his father and Happy not tried to talk some sense into him.

Even though the labor and birth was over, she had dark circles under her eyes and some redness was still present in them. She had several bruises on her left and right arms from when the nurses had tried to find her vein to insert the IV line but had had trouble doing so. She was still wearing nothing but a thin hospital gown and he knew that she was probably dying to take a shower or maybe even a bubble bath. She looked as if she had been dragged to hell and back and even though he was still mad at what she had done, his skin still tingled and his heart still raced at having her near him.

"I probably look like crap, huh?" She jested with a sad smile and looked away from his eyes when she noticed how Tony kept staring up and down her body. She stared down at herself and scrunched her nose in disapproval of her status but she knew that there was not much she could do about it right now. "I promise I won't look this bad for long."

"I don't care," he found himself replying before he even realized he was speaking again. "You just look like a –"

"Crazy person?" She interrupted him. "Someone who lost her straightjacket and her hair brush?" She added and he shook his head at her before he carefully put her back on the bed.

"No. You look like a woman who just gave birth. That's all."

Pepper gave him a small, grateful smile and a nod. He covered her with the blanket again and sat on the edge of the bed, to her left side. Having her near him always seemed to break his resolve, and he could not help himself to hold her by the back of her neck with his left hand, his thumb practically dancing with her cheekbone. He then leaned towards her face and kissed her forehead a few times. His lips then slowly traveled down to her eyes, nose, cheeks and finally her lips. His kiss was neither long nor hungry, but it was sweet, soft and methodic enough to satiate his need of her for now by making sure no inch of her lips was left untouched. Pepper closed her eyes for it all and when she opened them up again, her eyes were filled with tears.

"I'm sorry," she said and sniffled. "I-I don't even know why I'm crying."

Tony frowned and again hit himself mentally for ever thinking that it was a good idea to storm inside her room to yell at her for what she had done to him. He had not stopped to think that she was going to be extremely vulnerable and unstable for the next few days – maybe even weeks – after the birth and that perhaps what she expected of him right now was his open support and not his uncontrolled rage.

"It's OK, Pep," he said, pulled out a handkerchief from his back pocket and tenderly wiped her tears from her face. "You…you've just had a long couple of weeks, right? You're just tired."

She nodded a few times and played with the hem of the blanket, her eyes filled with obvious conflict. Tony wondered what was crossing her mind, but he did not have to guess for long. The moment she bit her lower lip and looked away from him and to her right, he knew she was getting ready to tell him the truth she did not know he already knew.

"How-how is he? Did…did you meet him already?"

"Yes." He deadpanned. "Yesterday. I met him yesterday. He's very healthy. He-he's… perfect."

"Good," she said, still not meeting his eyes and gulped. "So, uhm… What… what do you think… about him?"

"I think," he began and briefly closed his eyes when he felt the anger returning to him. He had to keep it under control. No matter what; he had to keep it under control. He knew that he had the right to be mad at her. He knew that he had the right to go off at her this very moment, but he also knew that he had to calm down. Anger had led them both to nowhere before. Anger had made them drift apart. Anger had made them waste time they could have spent together. Anger had made him kill Rhona Erwin in cold blood not twenty-four hours ago.

Moreover, had he not been the one that had been begging her to wake up yesterday? Had he not been the one who could not wait for her to open her eyes to tell him that she was fine? It had not even been an entire day since he had been here, in this same room, wanting nothing more than to hear her voice call his name. If he went off now, if he treated her no different than he had treated Maya Hansen in the past, then he did not deserve to be with her.

"I think," he continued after a pause and his eyes landed on her downcast face, staring intently at her reaction as he said his next words. "I think he's got my eyes."

Her first response was to sob. She clenched her fists around the hem of the blanket and held it so tightly her knuckles turned white. Her head hung even more and she clenched her eyes shut. Fresh tears trailed down her face and her entire body trembled in anxiety, sadness, fear and shock. He was not supposed to know. Not yet, at least. _She_ was supposed to tell him. _He_ was not supposed to find out from anyone else but her.

_I had my chance, though._ She thought. _I can't blame Happy. I had my chance._

She had not accounted for, though, being either high on drugs or knocked out completely for most of the time she had known the baby was not Scott's. That did not mean, however, that she was not scared beyond belief at the moment. What would Tony do? Would he hate her for it? Would he not give her a chance to explain? Would he use his power to take his son away from her? Would he be unable to find it in his heart to forgive her and not just for keeping it from him that the baby boy she had carried in her womb belonged to him but for what he was yet learn about themselves?

"Tony," she whispered between sobs, crestfallen still. "I-I'm so sorry. I… please… don't… don't hate me… Please, don't… don't leave me… don't take him from me. I…I can explain. I can explain everything!"

He lowered his head as well, closed his eyes and tried his best to swallow some of his anger. Her words, her fears that she had just expressed, were somewhat justified. He had not thought about taking the baby from her, or even leaving her altogether, but now that she had brought up the subjects, his irrational side could not help but to tell him both punishments sounded good enough for the crime.

Then again, this conversation was not about punishment or blame. It was supposed to be about understanding and clearing things up. She was not just any girl; she was Pepper, the girl he had been trying to get together with, for ever – the woman he had chosen to become his wife. Whatever she had done, whatever she had kept a secret from him, there just had to be a good reason for it all.

"I'm trying, Pepper," he told her with all honesty. "I'm… I'm really trying but… it's hard… I… I don't understand and I want to. But," he clenched his teeth. "I'm also mad… so mad… I… can't believe you did this to me."

Pepper's hand covered her face and a new wave of sobs ransacked her body. It was not enough that she was still coming down from the leftover pregnancy hormones that made her even more unhinged than before, but to add to that the fact that she felt as if an invisible wall had just been built between her and Tony was just too much for her to handle at the same time.

"Pepper," he continued when he noticed he was not helping matters any by acting so cold towards her now all of a sudden. He had just held her in his arms and had just kissed her as if nothing was wrong, and he now felt like a dick for warming her up only to metaphorically strike her with his words. "Pepper, listen. I-I want to know what happened. I _need_ to know what happened. I… I just don't know what to think right now and it scares me. I… I don't want to say or do the wrong thing but please understand that I'm furious. I'm not very happy with you right now."

"I know," she said and grabbed his handkerchief to blow her nose and clean her face as much as she could. She was still unable to meet his eyes but her head was at least raised now. She was staring beyond him, at the back wall, and even though her eyes were fixed on it, he knew that she was looking at something that was not there for him to see. "And I'll tell you everything, but, could I go freshen up, first? Please? I… this is going to take a while and… and I can't tell you this alone."

Tony frowned at her words but did not stop her from standing up from the bed. He also stood up and followed her on her way to the bathroom that was inside the private room and he watched her as she opened the faucet and washed her face. Her entire body was still shaking in fear but she was able to walk over to her luggage and grabbed her bag of toiletries.

The inventor observed her with patience as she brushed her teeth, brushed her hair, held it up in a ponytail and put a little bit of make up on her face to reduce the noticeable impact that crying had on her freckled skin. She then took out a pair of sweatpants, a t-shirt and undergarments from the bag and as she was about to close the door of the bathroom to change, Tony stopped the door with his foot.

She was taken aback by the move and for the first time since she had admitted that something was wrong she stared at his eyes. He had an unreadable look on his face and the inability she felt of predicting what his reaction would be when he found out why she was getting ready for guests made her eyes sting again. He eyed her silently for another second but he finally sighed and against the advice of his anger, he asked the question that was currently in his mind.

"Are you getting ready to leave me? Are you getting ready to break up?"

"No," she exhaled. "Unless… unless that's what you want me to do. Unless breaking up is what you want."

He opened his mouth to respond but closed it again when he realized he did not know what to say to that. He was not sure what he wanted her to do. He did not know what would happen to them after she told him what he wanted to know. Problem was that, just as her, he just did not know what to do.

He knew that his furious, arrogant, prideful side of him was telling him to kick the lying bitch out of his life and not to care that she had just given him a son, but his heart, which had been screaming louder than any other part of him as of late, was telling him not to make the same mistakes again. It was telling him to remember what it meant to be without her. It was telling him to give her a chance to set things right. It was telling him not to let anger speak for him again. It was reminding him that he had once lied to her, too.

"What are you getting all dressed up for, then?"

"We're having company, very soon, and I don't think you'd want him to see me in a see-through hospital gown. And if he sees that I've been crying, he's not gonna listen to me."

"Him?" Tony's head jerked back. "Who are you calling in here? Scott?"

"No," the ginger shook her hung head and pressed her clothes closer to her chest. "Not Scott."

"Then, who?"

She looked away from him, took in a deep breath and clenched her eyes shut before she spoke. "Gene," she replied. "I'm calling Gene."

xxxXXXxxx

Twenty minutes later, the hospital room had become the only witness of the most awkward reunion in the history of modern time. Pepper was sitting by the foot of the bed, biting her nails. Gene Khan was standing before her, watching her with questioning eyes, and Tony was resting his right foot and back against the wall behind Gene, watching the duo as they whispered to each other. Pepper finally shook her head at Gene and he sighed in resignation.

The moment that she had uttered Gene's name, a chill had run down Tony's spine. How was Gene even involved in all of this? Why was his presence needed for him to find out how Pepper had ended up pregnant with his child? The issue was already uncomfortable enough as it was and he definitely did not need more spectators to the weirdest situation he had ever encountered in his entire life.

"OK, what's the deal here?" Tony finally asked, tired of waiting for Pepper and Gene to settle whatever it was that they were talking about in hushed tones. "What's going on?"

Gene took a step back so that even though he was on his feet and he had Pepper on his right and Tony to his left, he was still somehow standing in between them.

"Tony," Pepper began and her eyes shifted between the genius and Gene. "I… I called Gene here because… because, well… he… he…"

"Because I tried to help Pepper erase the biggest mistake of her life and tried to keep it from coming out," he deadpanned. "But apparently, my efforts weren't good enough."

"What mistake? What do you mean? I don't understand."

"Of course you don't understand!" Gene spat. "You never understand anything that –"

"Gene, please," Pepper said. "You know it's not his fault. You know he doesn't know what I asked you to do to him."

"So?" Gene asked with his typical frown on his face. "That doesn't make him innocent."

"Wait," Tony shook his head and raised his palms to stop the conversation for an instant. "Did you just say 'what _you_ asked _him_ to do to _me_'?"

"Yes," Pepper admitted with a nod. "I… I… let's just say I now understand what you meant by panicking when you tried to make me forget about us. I… I understand it completely now."

Tony lowered his arms and stared between Pepper and Gene a few times, and when his eyes widened and his mouth hung, the redhead and the Mandarin alter ego knew his brilliant mind had already pieced together what he was about to find out about.

"No," Tony breathed. "You-you… you asked him to… to…"

"To do to you what you did to her," Gene interjected. "And if it wasn't for the fact that Pepper just had your baby, I would've never agreed to return your memories to you."

"My… my memories?" Tony's eyes widened even more and he pointed at Gene with an accusing finger. "You-you took MY memories?!"

"Tony, stop," Pepper was on her feet faster than he could reach Gene and she stood in between the two men. "I asked him to, Tony. I asked him to do it. It was my fault."

Tony did not say anything but his glare at Gene was enough for anyone to know what the blue-eyed boy wanted to do to Gene right now. He then felt Pepper's palms on his chest and heard her pleas not to start a fight so he only shook his head and took a step back. "I swear, Mandarin," Tony began. "If Pepper wasn't here… if she weren't here right now…"

"If she weren't here right now it would be because she would've never had your kid. And she would've never had your kid if you had kept your damn promise of staying away from her. I should've known you were weak, Stark! I should've known that you just couldn't stay away from her! You just couldn't stop yourself from wrecking her life!"

"Gene, please!" Pepper insisted, turned around to face the other angry man and gave her back to Tony. "This is not the time. We… we've already talked about this, alright? It's not worth repeating."

"But, Pepper!" Gene stared at her while he pointed at Tony. "How can you still be with him? He's no good for you! I thought I made that perfectly clear to you that night!"

"What night?" Tony asked and snaked his left arm around Pepper's waist when he noticed that Gene was getting awfully close to her. "What night are you talking about?"

"The night I did a memory reconfiguration on you," Gene spared him a glance before he returned his eyes to Pepper. "The night you two got together again."

_When we got together again?_ The thought crossed Tony's mind. _We… we got back together seven months ago… at the hospital… when Dr. Ross called me and…_

"A memory reconfiguration that Gene has agreed to undo, right, Gene?" Pepper said and snapped Tony out of his thoughts. He then pulled the redhead closer to him until her back was pressed against his chest and he rested his right hand on her hip. "Right, Gene?"

"Yes," Gene groaned, visibly irritated that Pepper was not pushing off Tony from her. "But this is the last time I do this for either of you, get it? This is not a game. This is Makluan power wasted on you and your silly games and stupid indecision."

"I know, Gene." Pepper said. "I know and I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I swear it won't happen again."

"I'm sure it won't," Gene said and his rings began to shine. "Because I'm not agreeing to do this ever again. I warned you, Pepper. I told you Stark will bring you nothing but grief."

"I'm sorry," Pepper said earnestly and would have emphasized her gesture with a hand on Gene's shoulder if Tony was not so adamant about keeping her next to him. "I'm really sorry."

"I know you are," Gene muttered and he then glared at Tony. "Not so sure about him."

Tony returned the glare but did not respond, and he was certain that Gene somehow knew what he was thinking about him at the moment when his glare deepened. The two men continued their staring contest until Pepper sighed, rolled her eyes at their childish antics and cleared her throat.

"So, are you ready?" Gene finally asked.

"Yes," Tony replied for the both for them. "Let's make this quick."

"Alright," Pepper said, turned around in place and stared at Tony who was now holding her by her waist with both hands. He still looked upset at her, and now at Gene, too, but he was at least letting her touch him and he was no longer avoiding her eyes. She was not sure if finding out the truth would make it better or worse for them, but he had to know how he had ended up becoming a father practically overnight. "It's best if the three of us do this at the same time. I'm not looking forward to the pain but yours is gonna be worse than mine."

"I don't care," he said and met her eyes. "I just want to know once and for all what I forgot… what you _made_ me forget."

"I know. I know the feeling," Pepper said. "And… and I'm ready to accept the consequences for this. I know it was wrong, and I know I just became the biggest hypocrite in the world for doing to you what I reproached you doing to me but… but I thought it was for the best. I really, really thought it was for the best."

"So did I, Pep. But that didn't stop you from walking out on me."

"I know," she mumbled and looked down. "And… and if after this you want to walk out on me… I… I'll understand."

Tony opened his mouth to retort but when a distant memory returned to him, he realized that she was not the only hypocrite here and that he had no right to be this upset at her.

_"YOUR difficult time? What about Pepper? You're just getting what you deserve. I told you, Tony. I told you a long-ass time ago to make up your mind. See what happens when you don't listen to me? See what you caused? Do you have ANY idea how terrible it was to mess with her mind like this?"_

_ "The end justifies the means."_

_ "Oh, sure! Whatever! I'm certain that if she had done the same to you, you'd be taking it much, much, much worse than she's taking it now."_

_ Tony's head jerked back. "No, I wouldn't!"_

_ Rhodey scoffed. "Sure, because you took it real well when you found out that Gene had lied to you, and then when you thought that your father had lied to you about building weapons, and then when you thought that he was building that weird weapon when we were heading to China to stop the Mandarin even though he was just making a Makluan energy cancellation-gun-shit, whatever it was."_

"I won't, Pepper." He finally said. "I'm not walking out on you. I'm not walking out on our son."

"That's what you say now," she reasoned. "But later, after Gene is done bringing back your memories, and once you see that I –"

"No," he interrupted her and shifted his hands from resting on her waist to cupping her face. "You… and the baby; you two are my family. I'm not walking out on family."

And she prayed that he would still think the same after Gene was done showing him what she had gotten removed from his mind.

* * *

**Interlude**

_9 months ago._

"If it was another time, Pepper, another life…if you had never met Tony and I had not been born like this…"

Pepper nodded in understanding. He did not have to complete his statement.

"Well, then I guess this is goodbye," she said and sniffled. "I hope…I hope you're happier than you'd ever been with me…with her…"

"And, I…" He inhaled deeply. "And I hope that Stark comes to his senses and realizes no one will ever love him like you do. You two deserve to be together. Even I know that and I should be the last person to want that. But I know he makes you happy, _real _happy, and that's all I ever wanted you to be."

They shared a final hug and a kiss on the cheek, and her eyes never left his form until he disappeared behind the door of the roof access room. Pepper waited a few seconds to make sure she was completely alone before she fell to her knees, covered her eyes and sobbed.

"I do," she said. "I'm sorry, Scott. I do love Tony Stark."

Her cries became that much louder after her words, after admitting that the inventor still owned her very mind, heart and soul, but her shivering body then suddenly went rigid and her eyes snapped opened when she heard _his_ voice; _his_ voice that sounded extremely _nearby_.

"I still love you too, you know?"

She held her breath for a moment; her hair draped over her bowed head as a curtain. Her knees had hit the ground hard and now that she was extremely aware of her kneeling position on the floor – and the fact that she was not alone on the roof, she realized that she was probably bleeding from one or both of her knees. Yet, all she could focus on at the moment was his presence to her left.

"How," she gulped, raised her head a bit but did not face him. "How long have you been standing there? _How_ did you even know I was here?"

He swallowed hard, his emotions running as high as hers, his heart beating as fast as it could go. He watched her kneeling form and wanted nothing more than to run to her, hold her in his arms and wipe away her tears. Yet, he knew he could not do so. It was not allowed. He knew she would not let him – at least not until his purpose for being here was revealed to her. At least not until everything was cleared up.

"Long enough to know that Scott's gone. Long enough to know that you haven't forgotten about me, either. And," she heard his voice crack a little. "You-you still have the tracker in your arm. I… I never disabled it."

Still not looking at him, Pepper eyed her right forearm, particularly the area where the subcutaneous GPS tracker was still embedded in her, and she swallowed hard as her left fingertips rubbed the skin above the tracker. She was not sure what to do or say for a second, but when she remembered the chat she had just had with Maya a few hours ago about her rushed wedding preparations, the shock of hearing the inventor's voice immediately wore off and was replaced by anger.

"_Well," Maya began. "I'm not going to keep you from looking for Scott for long. I just came here two ask you something and tell you something."_

_Pepper shifted her face to her left to stare at the brunette. "What is it?"_

"_First: I'd like to ask you to be my maid of honor. And second: I kinda need an answer to it now because Tony and I have decided on a date already, and it's going to be very soon."_

_Pepper swallowed hard. "How soon?"_

"_This year. Two months. August 14__th__."_

_Under the table, Pepper dug her nails into her skin._

"_August 14__th__?"_

"_Yup. I wanted to get married in July but he insisted we got married on August 14__th__, and…oh…my God!" Maya briefly covered her face with her hands. "I'm SO sorry, Pepper! That's…that's your birthday! I'm so sorry!"_

_Pepper looked away. "It's alright. It's no biggie. It'll be OK. I'm sure I can skip a birthday this year," she said and then her anger got the best of her. "In fact, I can totally ignore the fact that you guys are getting married on my birthday if you two promise to be at my wedding."_

"_Well, of course, Pepper! Did you guys already set a date?"_

_Pepper glared at Tony for a second and he was visibly taken aback by the sudden change in her demeanor. "Yeah, we did."_

"_Oh, awesome? When is it?"_

"_This year, too," Pepper said with a smile. "Very soon."_

"Well," Pepper began as she stood up and finally stared to her left to see no one standing before her but she knew that the Iron Man suit had to be around. "Now that you've confirmed that Scott has left me, why don't you get your stealthy ass back to your fiancée to plan your wedding? And while you're at it, why don't you also leave me the fuck alone!"

"Pepper! No!" The armor immediately became visible when he turned off the stealth feature – the reason why he had been able to hear and see Scott telling Pepper the truth about his mutant origin and his plans to leave the school and her. Tony had not planned on walking into the obviously awkward and painful conversation; he had just followed the location of Pepper's tracker with the intention of talking to her – _really_ talking to her – and he had quickly realized that she was not alone but it had been too late to leave. "Please, wait!"

"Fuck off, Stark!" The redhead spat and started her trek to the door that led off of the roof and back into her building. Tony sped up after her, retracted the suit to its backpack form on his way, and followed her inside the building, down the emergency stairs and to her dorm room's hall despite her attempts at slamming every available door at him to slow him down. She looked over her shoulder when she thought that she had lost him and when she realized how close he was to her, she picked up the pace, unlocked her dorm's door but was not able to be quick enough to close it before Tony pushed his way inside her room.

"Dammit, Pepper, listen to –"

Her right palm connected with his face and cut off his words. His head jerked to his right and the slap was rather painful for a second but he instantly recovered and stared at her again, no real trace of anger in his face despite his frown.

"Get out!" The ginger yelled at him and took a step back. She knew that the entire building was empty thanks to the celebration taking place outside, which allowed her to scream her lungs out at him if she so wanted to. "Get out, _now_!"

"NO!" He said firmly and took a step towards her. His back was towards the entrance door that she had locked on her way in, thinking she could outpace him. She was facing him, her back to the rest of the room as they both stood in the middle of the short entrance hall to her private dorm room. "I heard you, Pepper! I heard you s –"

She slapped him again, this time with her left hand, but the impact was not as great as the first time. She took a step back to again place some distance between them and as soon as he recovered from the hit, she spoke again. "I… I told you," her voice began breaking when tears came to her eyes. "I told you to get out!"

"And I said no!" He retorted, took another step toward her and in the blink of an eye slid his backpack from his back and threw it on the floor. "Pepper, I heard what you said," he gulped. "I heard you say that you still –"

She slapped him a third time, now with her right hand again, but just as before, the impact was not as strong as the previous time. She was falling apart before him, the one thing she did not want to do, but his mere presence and his pleading words were enough to make her tear at the seams. "Please," she begged, shook her head at him and took another step back. "Please, just go… I can't… I can't do this…"

"No," he deadpanned and swallowed down the knot in his throat. "Not until we talk… no until you accept that you still lo –"

A fourth slap made its way to him, this one coming from her left hand again but he easily caught her wrist with his right hand. She did not pull away from his grasp and instead stroke his cheek with her fingertips, her eyes staring directly at his with as many unshed tears as him. He closed his eyes when he felt her skin brush against his and a moment later he shifted her hand so that he could place chaste kisses on her palm and the inside of her wrist.

She also closed her eyes and let him close the distance between them. They both then opened their eyes and stared at each other for a brief instant and after she blinked again he suddenly disappeared from her view when he kneeled before her.

"I'm sorry," he told her, and as that day after she had woken up from her first undercover mission's drug-induced rest (courtesy of some chumps at The Rotary) when he had insulted her in an angry bout caused by Maya's influence, he rested the side of his face on her stomach and his hands on her hips. "I am so sorry, Pepper. I… I didn't mean it… any of it… I… I've missed you so much. Maya… she means nothing to me. Nothing. I could never… not with her… not with anyone, she's… she's not you. She's not you. And now… I made a mistake… I made a huge mistake tonight, but… but I'll fix it, Pep. I'll fix it so that you can come back home. Come home with me."

"Tony… please, don't…" She clenched her eyes. "If you don't mean it, then please don't say what you'll just take back tomorrow."

"I'm not," he assured her and sniffled. "I'm not. I was an idiot. I should've just told you the truth. I should've let you decide if we could work things out. That was all I ever really wanted. To work thinks out… to be with you… I just… I just…"

Pepper held back a sob, blinked a few tears away and inhaled deeply. She had not expected him to be here, to look for her, to tell her he still felt for her what she still felt for him. It had been a while since they had last seen each other, and every time since their first night together at the "Prohibited Section" of the Maggia lair it had been in the worst of situations and on the worst of terms. And yet, seeing and hearing him like this – like the Tony she had grown to love, was too much for her. She was supposed to be mad at him, utterly mad at him, but with only a few words and his touch she was already forgiving him.

"Stop," she finally told him. She then ran her fingers through his hair and then slowly kneeled down as well. His hands remained on her hips on her way down and her own hands held him by his neck, her fingers mingled with his mane. She tilted her head to her left and then her right and she stared at his red cheeks where she had just smacked him and grimaced. "Please, stop. Don't… don't say anything else."

He frowned. "But, Pepper, please, let me…"

"No," she whispered. "I… I'm sorry, too. I didn't help matters any and I… I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for hurting you."

Tony took in a deep breath and gulped, hope returning to him. He had not been able to see much of her when they had first walked in because the lights were off, but now that his eyes had had the time to adjust, he could see her irritated hazel eyes and her freckled skin that he could not believe he had lived without for nearly a year. He had missed her, so much, more than words could accurately describe, and he was desperate to let her know exactly how he felt right now – just how much of him she still held in her hands.

She sniffled a few times and stared at him with a look of longing that sent shivers down his spine. He slid his right hand from her hip all the way up to her face and he ran his fingers through her hair. She then surprised him by kissing his right cheek, then his left cheek and then repeated the process a few more times, slowly expanding the reach of her lips to his eyes, his forehead and his chin.

He closed his eyes and let her do whatever she wanted to him as she continued to kiss his entire face with the exception of his mouth. With every press of her lips onto his radiating skin she whispered an apology to him. An apology for not listening to him. An apology for slapping him. An apology for not believing him. An apology for not trusting him.

When she finally finished saying her peace, she slowly pulled back from him, and as her mouth briefly and accidentally touched the side of his, they both held back a gasp when they felt a spark travel all over their bodies. It was there, the memory of their first night together. They could still hear their hushed tones and raspy breaths. They could still feel how their skins had burned against the feel of each other. They could still taste each other on their lips.

And they still wanted more of it. It had not been enough. It would never be enough.

"Pepper, I…" he began and rested the right side of his face against hers. "I… you and me… can we try again? Can we start over?"

"No," she whispered to him and he was briefly taken aback by her immediate reply. He pulled his face away from hers and stared at her with a pained look until she gave him a small smile and grabbed onto the front of his shirt. "There's no need to start over. Let's… let's just continue…"

"Where we left off," he finished for her and not a second later he pressed his lips onto hers and began to kiss her hungrily and with the same desperation a man that had been starved for a long time and was now offered a huge feast, would have.

Her hands moved from his shirt to his neck and she pulled his face closer to hers. His right hand tugged forcefully but not painfully onto her hair and his left hand snaked around her waist, pulling her body to his. Pepper then surrounded his neck with her arms and opened her mouth to him when she felt his tongue sliding over her lips, giving him permission to eat her whole if he so wanted to. The new experience sent another round of shivers through both of them and the only sounds in the room for a few minutes were of their moans and their forced breathing through their noses as they both refused to stop the kiss. Finally, when partial breathing was not enough to survive, Pepper pulled away from him and took in deep breaths he also needed.

"Are-are you sure?" She questioned him, her forehead on his. "Are you sure this is what you want? You…you said that you didn't want me in your life anymore. You said that…"

"I was mad," he interjected. "And so were you. What we said… we didn't mean it. Right? You… you still love me, right? Because I do, Pepper. I still love you more than anything."

"I do," she admitted with a smile at his choice of words and kissed his lips. "I do. I do."

"Then that's all that matters," he told her and returned the kiss. "That's all that counts."

"But, what about –" He stopped her words with another hungry kiss, and when he began standing up with her in tow and her legs went around his waist, she forgot what she was about to complain about. Next thing she knew she was pressed between the bed and his body, and his hands were working wonders on her. He was holding onto her so tightly that he was partially constricting air from going into her lungs but right now she truly did not care.

"I love you," he whispered to her while his lips traveled all over her neck and face. "So much. Every day, I thought about you. I tried to forget you, but I couldn't, Pepper. I couldn't bring myself to forget you."

"I'm sorry," she said before he kissed her lips again. "I'm sorry I didn't understand you then."

"Forget about it," he responded and bit her lower lip. "It's in the past. It's over. It doesn't matter anymore."

She clenched her eyes when he felt his lips travel down her neck again, but this time they did not stop at her neckline and made their way down to her chest. She knew what was about to happen between them; she knew it because his intentions were obvious and she was not going to stop it from happening. She wanted it as much as he obviously did. Just last night she and Scott had tried to do the same but she had not been able to force herself to go through with it. She had just not been able to pretend she wanted it anymore.

She had been thinking about Tony like crazy ever since she had found out that he was engaged to Maya and being with Scott had only been a reminder for her that she was not with the inventor instead, and it had not helped her cause when she had uttered Tony's name in her sleep – the last straw that had pushed the jock to break up with her just minutes ago.

"Tell me you love me," he whispered to her as he took off her blouse. "Tell me you still love me, Pepper."

"I love you, Tony," she said without missing a beat. "I still love you, you jerk," she then added with a smirk that made him chuckle in return.

"_Your_ jerk, right?" He asked and she giggled, both remembering the time they had shared their first "grown up" kiss back at the armory and had had a similar – if not exact – conversation; that first kiss that had started everything for them and had led to this very moment.

"Yes," she said and pulled him down to her face by his shirt she was about to take off him. "_My_ jerk."

"A jerk that loves you, Pepper Potts," he told her. "A jerk that hopes you'll stay with him this time around."

He did not give her a chance to respond before he kissed her lips again, both slowly disposing of all of the barriers that kept their bodies from continuing down the path they both wanted to take that night, and for the first time since the Maggia stakeout, neither of them had to pretend that they could not get enough of their partner tonight.

xxxXXXxxx

Pepper opened her eyes when she heard noise coming from outside her dorm room and even though it took her a second to remember where she was, the moment she realized that half of Tony's nude body was still pinning her bare one under his, she panicked.

_Oh, crap!_ _What time is it? _She wondered to herself and her eyes landed on her alarm clock which told her it was nearly four in the morning. She had no idea when they had finally collapsed in exhaustion and had fallen asleep, but based on how tired she still felt she figured that it had not been long ago. Tony had proven to her that Extremis _did_ make him go on longer than a regular human could – just as he had bragged about many times before – she had just not known that it also helped him with _these_ situations. That had been a pleasant surprise for her; a very _pleasant _surprise, indeed.

_Stop that, Pepper. You have to get up __**now**__!_

Her eyes stared at the inventor and she could not help but blush when her mind replayed what they had done last night – several times. Their first time together seemed like a joke now, and she was not sure if it was because they had been perfecting their technique ever since or because they actually loved each other, but this experience had been so much better than a whole year sleeping with Scott, and she could only hope it had been the same for him.

_We oughta do that again! _

Her plans and less than decent thoughts, however, were halted when she remembered that she had to get up and place the deadbolt lock on her door in case the Resident Assistant decided to stop by. One of the rules of the dorm rooms was that any RA on duty could waltz right in any of the rooms for any reason at any time, and it had been known to the entire student body that the RAs liked to catch students breaking the campus' rules in the wee hours of the morning. It did not help the cause that there had been massive party last night, so the odds of finding alcohol, weed or passed out male students in the girls-only building were pretty high.

Oh, she could only imagine what the papers would print if word spread that she had slept with a still very much engaged Tony Stark!

_Yeah, I so have to get up._

With a lot of care and as if in slow motion, the redhead slid from under Tony and to the edge of the mattress. As soon as she stood up from the bed, she heard Tony moan her name and she instantly froze. She then waited for a few seconds to move and when his snoring resumed, she sighed in relief. She did not want to wake him up just yet, or at least not until she was able to make sure the coast was clear for them.

She walked over to the bathroom, turned the lights on, grabbed her bathrobe and threw it on. As her eyes traveled down her body to tie up the robe, she grimaced when she saw that she had dried blood on her knees from when she had scraped them last night and that the scratch on her right knee looked to be infected already and she sighed

_I'm gonna be paying for that later_, she thought and then tied a knot in her robe. She really wanted to put on some clothes in case the RA walked in before she was ready for her or if she had to walk out herself if the RA knocked on her door but she had no time to search for her scattered clothes or to find clean ones as it would only make more noise than she cared to make right now. In fact, now that she thought about it, it was best if the ginger stepped out herself because if the RA walked in and saw Tony Stark in her bed…

_Oh, crud!_

She finally resigned herself to just walk outside and see what all the ruckus was about. Maybe if she acted as if the noise had woken her up and maybe if she tried to pretend that she was buying a bandage for her scratches from the medicine vending machine down the hall, the RA would just spare her room for now. She knew that she could always wake up the blue-eyed boy and make him put on his suit in stealth mode, but that required even more racket than she wanted to make so early in the morning. The dorm room walls were paper thin, and she was shocked that no one had come looking for her after her loud moans of last night.

The thought alone made her blush again.

_Seriously, stop that, Potts!_ She told herself as she made her way out of the bathroom and stopped by her front door. _You're going to give yourself away!_

Her hand landed on the lock and as she was about to remove it, she heard a voice that made her stop in her tracks. For a second she wondered if she was hearing things, but when she pressed her ear to the door and heard the familiar voice again, she knew that she was in deep trouble.

"_I'm sorry ma'am, but I haven't seen him around here. What makes you think he would be here?"_ A voice that Pepper recognized as belonging to the Resident Assistant on duty, asked the brunette.

"_Nothing. I don't know,"_ Maya replied. _"I… I just thought that… you know what, never mind. Thank you for your help."_

"_I hope you find him soon."_

"_Thank you,"_ Maya said and the redhead heard steps leaving the hall. She held her breath when she heard even more steps approaching her door and when she heard the RA talk again, her heart stopped beating for a second.

"_Did you see who that was?"_ The Resident Assistant asked.

"_Yes!"_ A second voice responded. Pepper did not recognize the second voice but in the end it did not matter who it was. What mattered to the redhead was the conversation taking place outside in the hall and the fact that Maya Hansen was searching for Tony Stark – her _still_ fiancée.

"_I guess the honeymoon didn't last long, did it?"_ The RA said and snickered.

"_Honeymoon? What honeymoon?"_

"_Didn't you hear? Tony Stark and Maya Hansen got married last night!"_

"_WHAT?"_ The second voice asked and Pepper covered her mouth with her hand. _"I thought there was no set date on that!"_

"_Well, that apparently didn't matter and it's all over the news today. They were here last night for the party, remember? Well, people say that all of a sudden Tony Stark dragged Maya Hansen out of the party and that they heard him say he wanted them to get married as in 'right now'."_

"_And they did?"_

"_They surely did!"_

"_Wow! No wonder she's looking for him right now! I'd also want to know where my husband spent the night! I wonder if he chickened out and left. You think maybe he thinks he made a mistake and is trying to find an attorney to undo the whole thing?"_

Pepper had to hold back a gasp and tuned out everything else that was being said after that. All she could focus on was the fact that she had slept with a married man – a _married_ man that was still in her bed right now while his wife was desperately looking for him. Even if she loved him and even if he had said that he loved her too, he had failed to inform her that he was now married –_married_, and that he had then left his new wife wondering where the hell he was.

_A mistake_, she repeated in her head. _He…he made a mistake._

And it was then that his words of last night made sense to her.

"_I'm sorry," he told her and rested the side of his face on her stomach and his hands on her hips. "I am so sorry, Pepper. I… I didn't mean it… any of it… I… I've missed you so much. Maya… she means nothing to me. Nothing. I could never… not with her… not with anyone, she's… she's not you. She's not you. And now… I made a mistake… I made a huge mistake tonight, but… but I'll fix it, Pep. I'll fix it so you that can come back home. Come home with me."_

The redhead closed her eyes and covered her face with her trembling hands. She could not believe it. She just could not believe that he had kept it from her that he had gotten married last night. He had again_ lied _to her even though he already knew how she felt about him lying to her – what his lies did to her trust in him.

How did he expect her to just open up to him after this? How did he expect her to take him back after realizing he was a married man? Even if he had denied it, he must have some feelings for Maya, otherwise, why would he have said _I do_, so fast?

_Oh, my God! _The ginger thought with panic. _I slept with him! On his wedding night! Oh, my God! Oh, MY GOD! He lied to me! He LIED to me, again!_

Suddenly, their night together seemed like a mistake to her. Suddenly, the hope she had woken up with that they could finally be together again was all but gone. Suddenly, she wanted nothing more than to forever erase this night from her memory… or at least from his…

And she immediately knew what needed to be done.

She walked back to the bed to make sure he was still asleep, and when she confirmed that he was she then walked to her nightstand, grabbed her pod and took it with her inside the bathroom. She locked the door behind her, sat on the floor in the farthest corner of the small room and sent a text message to Gene Khan. The thirty seconds it took him to respond felt like an eternity to her, but when she finally saw his reply, she sighed in relief and texted him back.

_ "Gene, I need your help. Urgently. I made a mistake. Please, find me. Please, come by. Be discreet and don't make a sound."_

_"Are you in danger?"_ He responded.

_"No. Just afraid."_ She replied.

_"Be there in a minute."_

_"Thank you. Please hurry."_

And Gene was true to his word and showed up a minute later. And five minutes after his arrival, after she had relayed to him what had occurred, he had begun scolding her. And ten minutes after his arrival, he had walked out of the bathroom with her and had made sure that Tony was still passed out in the bed. And fifteen minutes after he had landed in her dorm room he had finished the memory reconfiguration Pepper had asked him to do on the genius. And twenty minutes after the Mandarin had appeared in her room, he left with an unconscious Tony Stark in tow. And a second after Gene Khan left her room with the love of her life, Pepper Potts began to cry.

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**A/N:** So, what do you guys think happened? Are there more questions now? Do you like it so far? Let me know! ^_^


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: **So, this is the last chapter I have written for this story, so I'm not sure how long the delay will be for the next one :( I'm writing whenever I get a chance to but it's getting increasingly difficult to keep up with everything and converting outlines into chapters. But, do not despair! We'll get there!

Question for my Faithful Readers: Are we all girls here? Do we have any male readers? Just curious ;)

**IMPORTANT NOTE as of 3/21/14:** This chapter has been edited from its original version. It now has an added scene at the end after the ^ xxxXXXxxx ^ symbol.

**Guest Review Responses**

**pepperony4evah: Crap. Tony's mission of life could be messing pepper's life. Their stubbornness also is a reason why their lives become complicated so time after time **– Tell me about it! But, let's have some faith in them. They've been through so much I think they're starting to develop some common sense XD

**Heartbreaking! Update soon! **– But it will get better… for a while… and then… coughcough

**Apps: A BIG THANX TO U MISS STARFIRE...Keep the same pace of updating...feeling very sorry for pepper...M bit confused,again read chp.1 of Third year where u stated "Tony had gotten cold feet at the last moment and had ended up making it up to her with sex that Night" and in this chp Tony confessing Pepper that "I made a huge mistake tonight"...PLS don't tell me he really made something with Maya the way he had with pepper so far!** – A little bit of more info on what really happened that night is dished out here. But, if you want a short answer: Tony never slept with Maya. Gene swapped the memory so that Tony thought he had slept with Maya that night instead of Pepper. The huge mistake he made was almost marrying Maya out of impulse. He knew that he just had to fix the impression he had given Maya that he was willing to marry her in the blink of an eye or marrying her at all. Pepper, of course, thought that the mistake was actually getting married but that never happened. Later on, Pepper found out that it never happened but because Tony didn't bother looking for her after it (even though he didn't remember they had slept together again) she figured that his confession of that night had to had been a "heat of the moment," thing and that he had not really meant anything he had said to her that night. Later on, she started suspecting she was pregnant, and when she finally found out that she was and the wrong due date was given to her, she assumed that it was Scott's and that there was no way she could have ended up pregnant from Tony because she already was by the time she slept with Tony that night. So, in conclusion, we have Tony, Pepper and the idiot at the medical laboratory that put the wrong due date to blame for Pepper not knowing she was carrying Tony's baby until the end. I had nothing to do with it XDDDDD

**HI,OMG!I did'nt saw that coming!I hope that Tony reacts well after he remembers everything again!am keeping my fingers crossed!UPDATE plz plz. – **No need to worry! ^_^

* * *

**Chapter 2: April**

It was April 1st, three days after his son had been born, and Tony Stark felt like a fool. He felt as if someone had played a prank on him nine months ago, only to poke fun at him until today on the official day of tricks. He knew that was not really the case – he knew that Pepper had been as clueless as he about the paternity of her baby until two weeks before the baby had been born, and even after Gene had given him his memories back and he understood why Pepper had made him forget about their night together, he still felt somewhat betrayed by her.

Yes, Pepper had been given the wrong due date for her baby. Yes, the person that had filled out the reports of her pregnancy had typed the incorrect date, making the redhead believe the baby had been conceived before she and Tony had slept together that faithful night nine months ago and had thus made her believe that it was Scott's baby. Yes, Happy had found out by accident when he had overheard Pepper telling Scott over the phone that he was not the father of her child. Yes, she had been misinformed about Tony and Maya getting married that night, as the media and everyone else had assumed that they had done it. Yes, she should have asked him for the truth before she had decided that erasing his memory was the best thing to do. Yes, it could have happened to anyone, but it had not happened to anyone. It had happened to him.

Why, oh why, did these things happen to him?

After Gene and Pepper had explained everything to him after recovering his memories – that he had never actually slept with Maya that night as he had thought he had, and that he had actually slept with Pepper after leaving Maya alone at the altar after telling her he could not go through with it, Gene had left almost immediately, leaving the ginger and the inventor in an awkward silence that neither of them had known how to fill; a silence so heavy that he had just left without a word. She had not stopped him from leaving her room and neither had anyone outside her room and ever since that had happened, two days ago, he had been locked up in the penthouse. Pepper had not called him to tell him she and the baby were being discharged today, but he had found out by Happy when he had asked him how his redhead and his son were fairing.

Yes, he was disappointed and still a little bit upset about it, but that did not change his feelings for her; it only made it difficult to talk to her again for a while. It only made it challenging to continue where they had left off before he had known that the baby was his, but it did not make it so that he never wanted to see her again. He actually wanted more of her now. He wanted to be part of the family he had assured her he would not walk away from; he just had to get over his hurt feelings and forget the entire mess had occurred in the first place.

It was all clear to him now, why she had so easily forgiven him when he had found her at the hospital seven months ago. It had been easy to do what she had already done before. He had already asked for forgiveness before and she had already accepted it and offered her own apologies. He had just forgotten that he had already done so two months before he had walked inside her hospital room after finding out she was expecting. He had just forgotten that he had already been with her again before their unexpected meeting at the emergency room.

He stood up from his chair in his office and made his way out of it. He waved a hand at Bambi and informed her that he was leaving early for the day. The personal assistant knew where he was going – why he was leaving in the middle of the day. He was going to go pick up Pepper and his son from the hospital even though they did not know he was coming for them. Happy had informed him that Pepper had taken his silence and distance a sign that he wanted nothing to do with them, and the redhead was under the impression that Virgil was taking them to Stark International today. She was not aware that it was the inventor who was picking them up. She was not aware that he had every intention of bringing his little family back home with him.

He had not intended to act like a prick by not talking to her since he had walked out of her room, but he had wanted to be alone for a while, think things through, and release his anger in ways that did not involve screaming at her. There was no point in doing so now. There was no point in living in the past. The truth was that they had both made mistakes but things were cleared up now, out in the open, and their only concern at this point was their child.

_I'm a father_, he told himself, still unable to believe it. _I have a son with Pepper! _

He would have had a wide grin on his face if he had not felt nervous about showing up at the hospital uninvited. He was not sure how Pepper would react to seeing him there when she was expecting her father. He was afraid she would reject his offer to return home with him. He was terrified that she would end things between them in shame. He knew that she was not mad at him, or so Happy had assured him. She was actually depressed, angry at herself, and felt undeserving of his love.

_Undeserving_, he scoffed at the thought as he stepped into his car. _I think we're both about even on the screwing up department. We both share the blame._

He just had to convince her of it, too.

He pressed his thumb on the scanner of one of his vehicles to start the engine, an SUV he had recently bought so that the baby would fit in the back seat, and in a second he was out of the parking lot of Stark Solutions. He had sent Virgil a text message about an hour ago to confirm with him that he was picking up the ginger and the baby, and Virgil's job was to not show up at the hospital at all. The inventor had been surprised and glad to find out that even though their family and friends had supported Pepper's decision to keep from him that he was the father of her baby, they had also agreed that Tony had the right to take time for him to accept and internalize what had been done to him.

"_It's only fair,"_ Roberta had told him. _"She did what she had to do, and so will you. If locking yourself up at home is what you need to think about things clearly, then do it. We'll keep an eye on her."_

The drive to the hospital was short and uneventful and seconds after arriving in the hospital's parking lot he was out and steps away from the entrance. He knew that Nurse Owens and Pepper's doctors were aware it was him coming for her and the baby, and that they had been asked to not let her walk out on her own when she realized that Virgil was late for picking her up. He stared down at his watch and saw that he still had about five minutes before she was officially discharged and he headed to the hospital's gift shop.

It took him longer than anticipated, but ten minutes later the billionaire was riding up the elevator with a huge floral arrangement in hand. It had a dozen roses, a couple of balloons and a small teddy bear. The teddy bear was for his son, and the flowers were for his future wife; the mother of his first child – and hopefully the mother of many more, too.

The elevator dinged when it arrived at the correct floor and the genius made his way down the hall and toward the reception. Nurse Owens was already there with a wheelchair for Pepper, and after discussing their recommendations with Tony, Dr. Adler, Dr. Ross and Nurse Owens let the inventor grab the wheelchair. He placed the arrangement in it and held it from the top as he slowly made his way to her door. He knocked on it twice and when he heard Pepper say it was OK to come inside, he did so.

"You're always late, Dad," the redhead said as she stood up from the bed, the baby in her arms, her back to the entrance. "How you managed to retire from the government, I'll never know." She then turned around to face the door and when she saw that it was actually Tony standing there and not Virgil, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

Seeing the two of them again, this time together in the same room, immediately made him realize that his earlier fears were unjustified. It did not have to be awkward between them. It did not have to be difficult to get back into the routine of being together again. It did not have to feel like pulling teeth with no anesthetic. As long as they still wanted each other, as long as they still loved and cared for the other, they would make it out of this hiccup in their lives. This was nothing; it was nothing compared to what they had already overcome in the past.

Tony waited a few seconds for her to recover her wits, and once her mouth closed again and she visibly gulped, he grabbed the arrangement, placed it on the floor next to the wheelchair and walked over to her. The redhead was frozen in place, her eyes glued to the inventor's every move as he sheepishly closed the distance between them and as soon as he stood in front of her, he realized that her eyes were filling up with tears and he frowned. He was tired of seeing her tears, especially if he was the cause of them.

"Tony… what… uhm… I… I thought… my dad…"

He lightly shook his head at her and he held the left side of her face in his hand. His thumb lovingly stroked her cheekbone a couple of times, his eyes stared deeply into hers, and he then chanced a quick kiss on her lips that she did not return but did not stop either. He then pulled back from her face and while still holding to her cheek, he used his free hand to touch the baby's clenched fist and rubbed the soft newborn skin.

His hand then mimicked his other one that was still on her face and he pulled her to him and kissed her again, this time longer and deeper, and she did return the lip lock this time around, albeit with some hesitation brought on by the shock of seeing him here when she had been sure he would never speak to her again. When the kiss ended, he wiped some of her tears with his thumbs and as they stared into each other's eyes he finally spoke.

"Are you two ready to come home, Pep? Place feels huge without you. I can't wait to have you back."

She bit her tongue to keep herself from weeping in happiness and relief and instead gave him a nod and a smile. "If you're ready to take us in… if this is really what you want, then yes. We're ready to come home with you."

Tony smiled at her, wiped away the rest of her tears with his hands and then pressed their foreheads together, forcing them both to close their eyes. "This is what I want, Pepper. This is what I've always wanted. It might have come to me sooner than expected, but it still is what I want."

"Even… I mean, even after…"

"Yes. _Especially_ after that," he assured her and kissed her nose. "You're still mine, Pepper. I'm not giving you up. I'm not leaving you again. Don't you remember? 'Till death do us part,' right?"

"Not yet, Tony," she began. "We're not married yet."

"Maybe not officially but," he said, pulled back his face from hers, pressed his right index finger to her heart and then reminded her of what she had already said to him in the past. "We've already married each other, right here, a long time ago. Right?"

Pepper finally smiled, feeling that a weight had been lifted from her chest and nodded to him. He then gave her another long kiss that was only interrupted by the baby sneezing, and after they both chuckled at how cute their son looked making an annoyed face, Tony helped Pepper into the wheelchair. Outside the room, Nurse Owens waited for them with the discharge papers and helped them carry the floral arrangement to the car. Half an hour after that, the two heroes and their son walked inside the penthouse – their home, feeling nothing but hopeful about their future together and wanting nothing more than to let the bundle of joy finally bring happiness to their lives.

xxxXXXxxx

A week after coming home from the hospital, Pepper and Tony had been slowly realizing that parenting was not as easy as Roberta, Howard and Virgil made it seem, and that James Howard Stark was no different from any other baby in the world. In fact, the ginger and the inventor were starting to believe that their son had been sent to them for the sole purpose of keeping them up at night, helping them lose weight by how much appetite they had lost in new-parent anxiety, and as payback for all the times they themselves had not been a good daughter or a good son.

No amount of parenting books, articles and magazines had prepared them for this; for the constant crying over the night for no apparent reason. For the disarray that their penthouse home turned to be, overridden and littered by the baby's belongings while they remodeled one of the extra rooms at the tower penthouse to be a nursery. For their days to be filled with cups of coffee to keep them awake and for their nights to be spent rotating who got up to feed and change the baby when he started to cry.

For a couple that had been used to scheduling their days, knowing what to do and when to do it, using their sharp tongues and knowledge to win an argument against anyone, and relying on technology and research to make decisions, parenthood was a sour reality-check. The baby had no set schedule yet and thus they were not sure when something needed to be done and how to prepare for it. The baby only spoke by cooing and crying, so their wit did nothing to make the baby stop doing something or tell them what had him weeping throughout the night. The baby was not a computer or an obvious mission, so programming, recon and their suits did not help them at all. The baby was just a baby; a little human being that was as confused as they were about what to do with himself in this new world he had been thrown into.

Jarvis had been kind enough to visit them every now and then while they got the hang of their new responsibilities, and if it was not for the butler, the couple would never have anything to eat or wear. Between setting up the nursery, baby-proofing the penthouse, overseeing the duties of CEOs of Stark Solutions, and learning the ropes of parenting, the superheroes could only wish that the baby had come with an instructional manual and a mute button; _especially_ the mute button.

But then, when the baby finally calmed down and he smiled at them or spat saliva bubbles through his mouth, Pepper and Tony forgot all of the setbacks and woes and smiled themselves. When the baby giggled at their perplexed faces when they were not sure what to do, when the baby appeared to perhaps identify them as Mom and Dad, when the little boy closed his tiny fists around their clothes when they carried him or around their pinky fingers when they tried to distract him, all the crying and all three-in-the-morning nursing sessions and all the constant diaper changing and all the mess in their home seemed more than worth it for them.

_We really need to set a schedule_, Pepper thought as she exited the shower and threw on some underwear and loungewear; the only things she could wear while her body returned to its pre-pregnancy state and the only clothes she did not mind to soil with baby vomit. Tony had been doing the same – using clothes that he would not miss – but being a man, he had been throwing away the clothes that got stained rather than washing them, claiming he would not wear something that would always smell like sour milk to him.

The redhead smiled to herself while she brushed her wet hair at the memory of the first time Tony had made such a statement and it had caused a quick argument between them. It was around two in the morning and she had just finished breastfeeding James and Tony had taken over his burping while Pepper cleaned herself up. Minutes later she had heard Tony cuss that he had 'done it again,' and when she had walked inside the room she had seen Tony taking off his shirt and throwing it in the trash.

_"Seriously, Tony," she shook her head. "Why do you keep doing that? It's just milk. It'll wash off."_

_ "No, it won't," he told her. "Extremis… it makes my sense of smell pick up on stuff more than usual. It doesn't matter how much we wash this, that damned stench will stay there."_

_ "You mean the damn stench of my breast milk?"_

_ "Yes! It's revolting! No wonder he threw it back up!" He replied without thinking while he lay James back inside his crib and when he heard whimpering coming from the door, he realized what he had said. "Oh, shit! Pepper, I didn't… I'm sorry… I wasn't thinking."_

_ "You really think my breast milk is revolting?" The redhead asked, tears falling down her face, and Tony flinched. He immediately threw his arms around her and rocked her left and right._

_ "Sorry, Pep. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I-I didn't mean it like that. It's just… it's, ahem… it's so healthy, you know? Like, full of good things for him that it just smells… different… packed…"_

_ "P-Packed?"_

_ "Concentrated!" He immediately responded and kissed her lips. "It's just…well," he sighed. "It's-it's actually nothing. I'm just a fucking idiot who doesn't think before speaking. I'm sorry, baby. I'm really sorry."_

Pepper chucked lightly as she remembered how the inventor had kept apologizing to her all that night and had even watched over the baby while she took a long, hot bubble bath the next morning. Showering was becoming the only activity in which she had a chance to relax, and she knew that if they kept it up for too much longer, neither she nor Tony would ever smile again. It was difficult to take a break, sleep or even spend time alone together when all of their tasks revolved around the baby's needs, and since neither of them wanted to hire a babysitter to help them out in fear of whatever or whoever was still out there trying to get the bounty for them, they were definitely going to have to sit down and use all of their technology and resources to their advantage to get through the first few months of parenthood.

_Maybe Tony can invent a robot for…_

Her thoughts were interrupted by the shocking scene she had suddenly walked into in the living room of their home, where the blue-eyed boy was supposed to be watching over baby Stark while she took a ten-minute break to shower after cleaning up the penthouse. She was not sure what to do or say first and her eyes stared at everything and everywhere, also unable to focus on only one horrible thing at a time.

"Oh, MY GOD!" Her hands flew to her cheeks. "Tony, what the heck is going on here?"

"Oh, err… hey… Pep," he responded with a wince. "If I told you that nothing's going on, would you believe me?"

"NO!" She yelled angrily. "How the hell could I?" Her hands pointed to the scene unfolding before her. "I'm seeing it, Tony! I'm seeing the freaking mess! I _just_ cleaned 'round here!"

The mess the ginger was referring to, began with the inventor himself. His t-shirt was off and crumpled on the floor, which meant that it was yet another clothing item that would be thrown away into the trash and his entire body was covered in baby powder. In one hand he held the bottle of baby wipes and in another hand he held a crinkled baby wipe he was currently trying to use to remove the powder from his face but it was obvious to her that it was not working as expected.

"Did you know that these wipes are not very good for cleaning powder? They actually make it stick even more to ya." He said with a shy smile, hoping that the scene would not get him in too much trouble. In addition to the powder on his body, the white stuff was everywhere on the floor, furniture and on the baby himself. Torn, unused diapers littered the room and as the redhead took slow steps toward the changing table that the genius had set in the middle of the living room and as she stared at the baby, she realized that the poor infant was suffering under the inexperience of his dad.

"Tony, why is Jimmy's diaper backwards _and_ inside out?"

Tony frowned. "_Howie_'s diaper's fine, Pepper."

Pepper rolled her eyes at her fiancée's insistence on calling the baby by his middle name rather than his first name, and then sighed. "What do you mean his diaper is _fine_?" She pointed at the wiggling baby who was currently trying not to eat the powder on his face. "Can't you see it's _not_ right?"

"It's not?" Tony asked and leaned closer to the baby to take a better look at his disastrous work. "Are-are you sure about that, Pep?"

Pepper rubbed her face with her hands in desperation. Tony had been avoiding changing diapers all by himself and only did it when Pepper was around to supervise the _difficult _task. She had thought that he had learned by now since it had been nearly a week, but based on the current evidence, it appeared as if he never would. "Does it _look_ right to you?"

"Yes?"

Pepper groaned, grabbed a clean diaper from the bag and pushed Tony out of the way. "Seriously, Stark! How can you think that it's right? It looks completely wrong!"

"Well," he crossed his arms over his chest and furrowed his brows while he watched Pepper fix his mishap. "How the hell am I supposed to know how it's supposed to look when it's wrong if I don't even know how it's supposed to look like when it's right? Did you ever stop to think about that, Potts?"

"Ugh, Tony!" The redhead bellowed and began cleaning up the powder from the baby. "I'm gonna have to bathe him again! Look at what you did to him! You're supposed to be a genius!"

"I AM a genius!" He defended himself as he began helping out in cleaning up his mess by picking up from the floor the diapers he had ripped apart in his efforts to change James's diaper. "It's just… well, it's not like the diapers have a sign that says 'this side up,' or 'fragile: rips when pulled too hard.' How the _crud_ am I supposed to _know_ which side goes where?"

"The one with the flaps goes on the back," a voice behind the couple said in an amused tone and they would have both turned around to face the newcomer with an annoyed look for providing the unsolicited advice, if the voice had not belonged to _her_. Instead of lashing out at the person that had interrupted their argument, they both froze in place and silently eyed one another with concern as the visitor continued her explanation. "Then you use the flaps to keep the front part in place. I can send you an online video for it, or show you with puppets, if you want."

The redhead and the billionaire slowly turned around in place and did their best not to look as stunned as they actually felt. Pepper swallowed hard and opened her mouth to say something, anything that would not make them seem rude to their unexpected guest, but her voice had left her. Fortunately for her, Tony was able to find some words that he somehow managed to put together into a semi-coherent sentence and spoke up. "Maya? What, uhm… what are you doing here?"

"Bambi let me in," Maya said with a half-smirk. "And, I see that the rumors are true this time," she eyed the baby behind Pepper. "Congrats, you two!"

"Thanks," Tony said and he then eyed Pepper who was still silent, wide-eyed and in shock. He could only imagine the things that were crossing the ginger's mind right now, one of them being the fact that she knew that Maya was smart enough to have already figured out that Pepper had jumped at the opportunity to be with Tony while the two of them were still very much an item and in line to be wed. "You, uhm, you caught us at a bad time."

"I can see that," Maya replied as her eyes stared at the massacre of diapers on the floor and chuckled. "I'm not staying long. I just wanted to say hi and meet the famous baby of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. It, ahem, he didn't take long to come along, huh?"

Pepper finally snapped out of her reverie when she felt Tony's hand rest on the small of her back and she gulped before she spoke. "Sorry about the mess," she said. "I-I had just cleaned but… but…"

"It's alright, Pepper," Maya waved a hand to dismiss her concerns. "I expected to walk into something worse, to be honest. A few days after my cousin had her first baby, I caught her pouring syrup on her cereal and milk on her pancakes. She was very tired."

Pepper gave the brunette a small smile, honestly grateful for the girl's attempt at making the atmosphere less tense, but the balm did not last long. "We… we aren't there yet, thankfully."

The inevitable awkward silence that followed the redhead's statement was suddenly broken when James began to cry. Pepper immediately turned around to face her baby, picked him up in her arms and then gently patted his back to comfort him. "Sorry. He-he needs a second bath. If you don't mind, I…well, I'm –" The redhead pointed towards the master bedroom.

"Go ahead, Pepper. We can catch up later."

"Yes," Pepper nodded. "Later, yes. It, uhm, it was nice to see you, Maya."

"It was nice to see you, too," the brunette said earnestly and with a smile. Her eyes remained on the couple as Tony whispered something to his fiancée that made her nod. He then gave her a soft kiss on the lips and after another nod from the ginger to the brunette, Pepper quickly left the living room and closed the door to the master's retreat behind her.

Tony stared at his girl until the doors to their bedroom closed and he then returned his eyes to his former fiancée. He eyed the girl up and down for a moment, as if he could assess any ulterior motive for her random visit by just staring at her, but found nothing suspicious about her. He had honestly thought that he would never see her again and that she would live her life somewhere else, but many times already he had been proven to be wrong. This appeared to be another one of them.

"A call would've been nice, you know?" The inventor said with a deep frown. "Pepper gets paranoid when someone sees the penthouse like this and it wasn't even her fault it's messy. She doesn't want people to think she's a bad mother for it, even though I've told her that's not what it means."

Maya shrugged apologetically. "Sorry. I wasn't sure if I'd even have the time to stop by. I was only going to be here for a few days and I didn't think I needed an invitation to come see my friends and their baby boy."

"You don't," Tony continued, his frown still present on his face. "But, given the circumstances, a heads up would've been in order."

"I'll keep that in mind for next time."

"Next time?" Tony asked with a confused frown while he grabbed a trash bag to put away the clutter he had made. "Internship ended already? How did you even know we live here now?"

"I watch the news," she said in a tone that showed the answer was obvious. "And no, the internship is still going, but I do get vacation time every now and then."

Tony spared her a glance but had nothing to say to her comment and he continued cleaning up. Maya decided to help out a little by holding the bag open for him and in a matter of minutes the place looked that much more presentable already, if the powder was overlooked.

"So, what are you _really_ doing here, Maya?" Tony asked her once he placed the trash bag by the entrance door and he had called housekeeping to come vacuum and mop the rest of the mess. "I don't think you came by just to say 'hi'. Are you here to argue or tell off Pepper because of the baby? Because that's not going to happen on my watch."

"Actually, I _did_ come here just to say, hi. I don't know why you'd think otherwise." She shrugged nonchalantly and walked closer to him. "I thought that you and I had broken up on good terms, Tony. And I never disliked Pepper even though she was all you ever thought about when dating me. I really just wanted to meet the little guy I've heard so much about in the news. He's very cute, by the way. Even with all that powder on him, you can tell that he's your son."

"Well," Tony began, not even sure anymore that his suspicions were at all warranted. "I guess that –"

Tony's reply was interrupted when the brunette closed the distance between them and she tugged on his tags to pull them closer to read them. The blue-eyed boy tried pulling away from her, suddenly feeling uncomfortable by the inches between her face and his, but the woman had a good grip on his collar that he did not want to end up breaking.

"Are these military tags?" Maya asked with surprise, her eyes squinted. "I didn't know you served."

"I didn't. They're not real." He replied and grabbed her hand to slowly pull it off the tags. "Pepper gave them to me."

"Ah!" She said with a nod and pulled back. "Present?"

"Yes. Christmas. She gave them to me after I asked her to marry me."

"Oh, yes, I heard about that." Maya said. "You guys are engaged now."

"Yes, we are. Can't wait to marry her."

"When's the big date? Am I invited?"

"No set date yet and I don't know if you're invited to it. If Pepper wants you there, then yes."

"So, I guess I'm _not_ invited," Maya said and Tony shrugged. He was not sure why he felt so anxious about her visit, but he wanted the brunette out of his home right now so that he could go to his ginger and make sure that she was alright. Bathing the baby did not take long and he was certain that Pepper was just avoiding the visit altogether by locking herself in their room. He knew how Pepper felt about what she had _done_ to Maya – even if they had not actually gotten married that night he had slept with her, as she had thought – but some part of the redhead felt guilty for practically double-crossing a friend.

When Tony did not make any effort to say anything else, Maya took the exit cue and shrugged. "Well, my plane leaves in a few hours so, yeah. I better get going."

"Alright," was all the billionaire said before he stepped aside and opened the door for her. Maya took a few steps out the door and into the hall but quickly turned around to face Tony before he closed the door on her and sighed.

"By the way, Tony, and let's put this out there: I'm not here to ask you to take me back or to bother Pepper. I'm over it. I just wanted to see how you guys were doing. That was all."

Seeing her disappointed face, the inventor felt a pang of regret. He had spent two years of his life with his woman, and while they had not been the best, he still owed her some type of respect after everything she had put up with from him. He shook his head in disapproval of his actions and gave her a nod of agreement. "I'm sorry, Maya. It's been a hard week with the baby and helping Pepper get some rest. Next time, please just give us a call so we can be better prepared. It wasn't my intention to be an asshole to you."

"I understand," she said with a knowing smirk. "You're just naturally like that," she added with a chuckle that he immediately returned.

"Yeah," he rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand and held onto the door handle with his left. "Yeah, I am."

"Don't worry about it," she assured him with a playful wink and a wave of her hand. "Just don't be like that with her because she won't put up with it like I did. Honestly, all I hope is that she's getting all the support she needs from you. Having a baby is hard, especially so young. And you can be so self-centered sometimes."

"I know, but she's getting all the support in the world," he immediately said and nodded. "She's getting all the help she can get and not just from me. I think she and the baby will be fine."

"I'm sure they are and will be fine," Maya said and then eyed him up and down. "But, what about you, though? Who's taking care of _you_? How are you doing?" She asked with a single raised brow as she pointed at his disheveled form that was still caked in baby powder.

Tony stared down at himself, smiled brightly and honestly as he thought of his answer and then replied. "I haven't slept more than two hours at night in a week. I have been vomited on, spat on and… _other_ things by an always fussy newborn. My future wife has been extremely hormonal every second of the day and is insanely obsessed with keeping the house clean and free of germs that can harm our baby. I've lost ten pounds in a month and Pepper bitches at me about it every day after she weighs herself and sees she's only lost half a pound since giving birth. I have baby powder all over myself because I suck at changing diapers and I'm probably going to get yelled at for dirtying up what my fiancée had just finished cleaning up. And with all that, all I can think about is how much –"

"Your life sucks?" Maya suggested and flinched at everything he had just said, seeing no other conclusion to his sad-sounding speech, but when Tony shook his head vehemently at her and gave her a wide smile of happiness that reached his eyes, Maya was taken aback.

"No. My life doesn't suck. It's the complete opposite of that, actually. It's been a blast," he said, pride swelling in his chest at being able to relay to someone how joyful he truly felt to have everything he had always wanted. "The incessant crying, the midnight feedings, Pepper in my arms at night…" he pressed his right palm onto his chest at the last one. "It's been the best time of my life."

Maya opened her mouth to try to call his bluff but when she recognized that Tony had been completely truthful about his answer, she simply pursed her lips and gave him a quick nod of understanding. "Well, I guess I'll see you two – _three_, around."

"See you around, Maya." He replied with finality and in a tone that told her it would not be the case at all. He had just told her that her presence in his life was not needed. He had just told her, in not so many mean words, that their lives were no longer intertwined at all and that he had no intention to maintain the friendship they had once had. He had just told her to leave them; him, Pepper and their baby, alone.

She then gave him a two-finger salute, turned on her heels and quietly walked away from him and down the hall, never turning back to face him as all her other questions had been answered by his last response. Tony then closed the front door and turned to face the bedroom only to see that his redhead had been listening to him all along and she had a wide smile on her face that he instantly mirrored. He took quick steps toward her and kissed her deeply, and when she told him that the baby was finally asleep and she reproached him for getting powder all over her just now, he simply shrugged and invited her to shower with him.

She had enough brains not to decline.

^ xxxXXXxxx ^

Nothing worked. Nothing, absolutely _nothing_ they had tried so far had worked. They had tried bathing him, feeding him, changing his diapers, burping him – which had left Tony with yet another t-shirt to throw away – singing to him, jingling keys in his face – because Pepper had seen that work on television – rocking him and the new parents had even called their on-call medical staff for Stark Solutions to check on their baby but nothing had been found to be medically wrong with James; nothing at all…

And yet he still refused to stop crying.

For no apparent reason.

Since ten at night.

And it was now nearly four in the morning.

And the young parents were at the end of their wits.

"Where's my screwdriver? WHERE is my SCREWDRIVER?" Tony asked to no one in particular in a loud voice so that he could be heard over James' incessant cries. The inventor's legs took him all around the penthouse, in and out of the master bedroom and his fingers ran through his messy hair. "Pep, _where_ is my screwdriver?"

"What do you want a screwdriver for?" She asked, equally irritated with the situation as she sat on their bed in their room. James was in his crib a few feet away from her and her hands rubbed the sides of her face as she spoke again. "You better not be thinking about leaving me here alone with him to go to the lab to work."

"I'm not," he replied when he returned to the bedroom. "I'm just thinking about jamming the fucking thing in my ears so I DON'T HAVE TO HEAR THE CRYING ANYMORE!"

"STOP CUSSING IN FRONT OF THE BABY!" She slammed her palms on her knees.

"HE CAN'T _HEAR_ ME OVER THE _CRYING_!" He pointed at the crib with his hand.

"You don't know that," Pepper replied with a frown and returned her hands to her the sides of her face to continue rubbing her temples. "I don't want his first word to be _fuck_, alright? And you've said that word and its multiple conjugations, like, a million times tonight already. Stop it."

"Well, first of all: can you blame me? He hasn't stopped crying! And, second, he's not gonna talk for a long-ass time, Pepper." He said and finally sat to her left by the side of the bed, both of them facing the crib. "Besides, you just said _fuck_, too."

"You're _not_ helping," she deadpanned between clenched teeth and narrowed her eyes at him. "You're seriously not helping at all."

"You aren't doing much either, honey," he spat in a mocking tone. "I don't see you coming up with an idea to put him to sleep. I told you that jingling the keys all over his face wouldn't work. You just pissed him off more!"

"And I told you that you shouldn't have fed him so late!" She retorted while throwing her arms in the air in frustration. "How could you forget to do it sooner? I haven't been using that damned uncomfortable breast milk pump for nothing!" She added and stood up from the bed to tower over his sitting form.

The blue-eyed boy was not fazed by her angry pose with her hands on her hips and instead held up his hand to indicate for her to stop and rubbed his tired face with his other hand at the same time.

"Wait, we shouldn't be arguing like this; that's exactly what he wants." Tony said from behind his hand, tilting his head over toward the crib to indicate their son and his diabolical plan. "We need to keep our heads clear and stick together through this. It's _us_ against _him_!" And the genius gestured with his hand for emphasis.

Pepper raised an eyebrow and shook her head. She could have sworn that in his exhaustion, Tony had just pointed to their son when saying "us" and then to the two of them when he said "him," but she herself was so tired she was not sure if she had just imagined that or not.

Tony took his hand away from his face and looked at her. He smirked and leaned closer to her so that his face was in line with her chest. He then grabbed one of her post-partum-induced, enlarged breasts in one of his hands and gave it a light, playful squeeze, causing the ginger to gasp and slap his hand away. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What?" His smirk turned into a smile and he shrugged. "You're practically my wife." He reasoned. "I can do stuff like that, and you can too," he said and pointed to his shirtless state. "Besides, breast feeding is not for nothing, or so it seems," he wiggled his eyebrows at her in an inviting manner, and had she not been so angry at him she would have blushed at the way he was staring at her: as if she was not, after nearly four weeks since giving birth, still carrying a few extra pounds in the worst of places on her body. As if she was not due for a hair trim, a facial and other more _personal_, corporal maintenance tasks. As if she did not look as exhausted as she did. As if she was not only a shadow of who she had once been when she had been just sixteen years-old.

_Five years is a long time, _she thought, still unable to believe how much time had passed and how much they had changed since they had first met. She was no longer just _Pepper "Chatterbox" Potts_ and he was no longer just _Tony "Genius, Billionaire" Stark_, and even though she was now a woman and a mom, he was currently staring at her as if he did not care that her body had changed so much and that it was no longer the one of a skinny teenager with no care in the world.

It was odd, ridiculous and almost ludicrous, this idea that he could still stare at her like this after all this time – that his eyes would gaze upon her so… _affectionately_. That he would see past the marring of time and missions and just see her, the same girl he had fallen in love with, somehow hidden behind the hits of life. How could he possibly not see all the damage to her heart, body, mind and soul? How could he possibly just ignore what time had stripped away from her? She was no longer as chirpy as before and her scar-affected skin and her puffy face had definitely seen better days.

She thought that it was silly that he saw more than what everyone else could see in her; and yet, the same could be said about her for him. Even in the worst of situations, even with hours of lack of sleep on him, his hair a mess and bags starting to form under his eyes, he still looked like that lost, orphaned boy she had met on the roof of the Academy. Behind the wrinkles that had begun forming on the sides of his eyes, she could still see the sparkle of his inquisitive gaze and the rapid workings of his bright mind. Even as mad and tired as she felt and as arrogant and as drained as he looked, he still looked desirable - _highly_ appealing, to her.

Just as what she appeared to look to him.

"Anyway," she said after an inhale and continued her rant, refusing to let his charm win the argument between them. "His belly is probably hurting him because of you! You put him in pain! Why didn't you listen to me when I told you it was his feeding time?"

"Are you trying to blame me for this?" He asked and crossed his arms over his chest, his friskiness suddenly disappearing when he remembered that neither of them had slept in twenty-four hours since the last time they had woken up and he felt not at all at fault for it. "The doctors said he's fine. He's just… I don't know… acting like his mom?"

She gasped in surprise at his accusation and then smacked the back of his head. "What the _hell_ is that supposed to mean, Anthony Edward Stark?"

"You know_ exactly_ what I mean, Patricia Marie Potts!" He rapidly replied, stood up from the bed and rubbed the sore spot on the back of his head with his hand. "He's an infant, so he can't talk and talk and talk, but he can cry, so…"

Pepper's left eye twitched and when he rolled his eyes in a condescending manner, she had had enough. "Did you… did you just _insult_ me? Are you fucking kidding me? He's _your_ kid, too, you know? Maybe-maybe he's just acting like his jerk of a dad and he's crying JUST BECAUSE HE CAN!"

"You just cussed!" He pointed at her. "You told me not to cuss and you just did it again! Practice what you preach, baby!"

"Take it back!"

"What? Our kid?" He asked, rolled his eyes again and then, in a joking undertone that his redhead did not catch at all, continued his reply. "I can't. There are no refunds and the warranty was voided when he was circumcised."

"Maybe there aren't any refunds, but there sure are exchanges! So why don't you exchange _him_ for a puppy and _me_ for your ex-fiancée, Maya Hansen, and this way you can again sleep at night and stop throwing away clothes!"

She finished her response with a stomp and when she suddenly turned to her right, her long hair smacked his face. She then stormed out of the bedroom and into the living room, nearly slamming the double doors of their bedroom in the genius' face.

Despite his visibility being reduced by his eyes being poked by her hair and his hand getting caught in between the closing doors, Tony immediately caught up with her and closed the doors to the master suite behind him so that the cries of the baby were partially minimized. He then stopped her fast trek towards the main door of the penthouse by embracing her from behind, and even though she tried to free herself from him, he just tightened his grip around her waist and arms, gave her a kiss on the side of her face and then whispered in her ear.

"Pep, wait, I'm sorry." He gave her another quick kiss on her temple and closed his eyes. "It was a joke. You know I was joking."

Pepper closed her eyes and again tried pulling away from him, but when she realized he was not going to let her go, she stopped struggling. She could still hear James crying bloody murder in their room, but some of the noise was being muffled by the reinforced doors that separated the master suite from the rest of the penthouse. She did not want to leave her child alone but she also recognized that this was an opportunity to discuss with Tony a matter than had been bugging her since Maya had returned. It was not the ideal place or time, but waiting for the ideal situation had never truly paid off for them.

Tony placed another kiss by her ear and then rested his chin on her shoulder. He expected her to say something, even if it was just to insult him, but when her face became downcast and he felt her body tense up, he spoke again. "I'm sorry, babe. I'm just tired and frustrated that I can't help my own son. I was just… I was just trying to make you smile. That's all."

"It wasn't funny, Tony," she whispered. "I know I'm not _all that_ right now – or anymore, and I know the baby and I are more a burden to you than anything else. But I don't need you reminding me of that."

His grip on her gradually loosened as the hidden meaning of her words finally sunk in and he took a step back from her, leaving her standing without obstructions and with the option of walking away from the conversation if she wanted to. He stared over his left shoulder in the direction of the master bedroom where James continued to cry and he then shifted his gaze back to his front to land on the back of her head.

After a swift moment of indecision and after realizing that he was waiting on her, Pepper slowly turned around in place and gave him a quick glance before she locked her sight onto the floor. She had only stared at him for a nanosecond, but that had been long enough for her to see the look of hurt mixed with confusion that was now on her fiancée's face. She was uncertain if she was speaking out of a true, backed-up concern or from leftover hormonal-caused paranoia, but at the end of the day her doubts were still plaguing her mind.

She lifted her head to stare him in the eye and after licking her lips and swallowing hard, she finally asked the question that had been demanding to be inquired. She knew she was about to open a can of worms that would probably end with an argument – the last thing they needed with a screaming infant in the background, but matters like the one she wanted to discuss could not be put off for a long time without multiplying the repercussions. "Do you still want to get married?"

His physical response was to frown, look down, exhale deeply and shake his head from side to side. He then looked up and to his left towards the main door of their home, rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand and then groaned. "What do you want from me, Pepper?" He asked in a tiresome tone before he faced her again. "What do I need to do for you to believe me?"

"Tell me the truth?" She suggested with a shrug. "You're giving me mixed signals, Tony. I don't know what to think anymore."

"Mixed signals?" He asked with wide eyes. "How and when have I given you mixed signals?"

"Well," she began, walked around him and slowly returned to the bedroom where their baby still cried, the inventor following closely behind her. She stared at the bundle of hiccupping sadness, picked him up from the crib and began rocking him in her arms. "Last week, for example. You said you wanted to postpone the wedding. Do you remember that?"

"Yes," Tony replied with a frown and took a step closer to her standing form by the crib. "Is that it?"

"What do you mean _is that it_? That's all I need to hear. Just a couple of weeks ago, after the baby was born, you said you wanted to have the wedding next month, as soon as Rhodey came back from the Air Force Academy for the summer so that he could attend. But then… then you said you didn't want to get married anymore… after… after Maya came back."

Tony closed his eyes when understanding finally came to him and he shook his head. He then walked over to the ginger, and while being careful not to crush their whimpering son who was still in her arms, he placed a soft kiss on her lips. His right hand held the side of her face closer to his and his left rested on her right upper arm for support, and after a few more slow kisses he finally pulled his face back but left his hands where they had been throughout the kiss.

"I never said that I didn't want to get married anymore, Pep. I said that we should hold off on the wedding for now. And I didn't say it because of Maya; I really couldn't care less that she's back. I said it because thinking about waiting for Rhodey to start his summer vacation reminded me that you still go to school. Granted, you only have ten classes left, but you still haven't finished your degree and you're so close. So, I thought that the responsible thing to do would be to get married AFTER you finished your degree, which I estimate can be done by December if I help you out. We can even get married on graduation day, if you want. I really don't care where we do it as long as we get it done before the end of the year."

Pepper felt a light blush cover her cheeks when she recalled that Tony had in fact asked her how many classes she had left to complete her degree just a few moments before he had suggested that they postponed the wedding, but she had not connected the two seemingly different topics. He had not mentioned to her why he had unexpectedly wanted to postpone the wedding until now, so there had been no way that she could have related his school question with his recommendation to wait to get married. She had never asked him either – a slipup on her part, and she now felt incredibly stupid for jumping to the conclusion that he was having second thoughts.

Her internal self-berating stopped when she heard him chuckle when her blush became more prominent and she then felt his lips briefly brush on hers again.

"You really thought that I was backing down?" He asked on a teasing tone, all their anger from moments ago completely gone. "Why the hell would I back down? Didn't you hear what I told Maya? I meant it, Pepper. I can't wait for us to get married. I'm only pushing it back because we've got enough to do right now."

Pepper opened her mouth to retort but when she realized something was off with the picture, she closed it again. She then shifted her eyes left and right and when she finally pinpointed what had changed, she quietly gasped. "Tony, do you hear that?"

"Hear, what?" The inventor asked with a frown, unsure how her question related to the conversation at hand.

"Silence," the redhead whispered and then looked down at their baby who now had his eyes closed and was breathing slowly, his tiny belly moving up and down with his light snores. "I hear silence… or I went deaf…"

Tony bit back a laugh at her comment and stared at James only to confirm that Pepper was correct. At some point during the last few minutes, the baby had fallen asleep, perhaps due to getting the attention he had been asking for from both parents at the same time or perhaps due to the fact that a baby could only cry for so long. "I guess he finally got tired of screaming."

"Thank God!" Pepper softly exclaimed and then slowly placed James back in his crib. She held her breath for a moment when he furrowed his little brows but when he returned to a rhythmical breathing pattern, she sighed in relief. She then turned around to face Tony again, who had been looking over her shoulder, and she snaked her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry for doubting you, Tony. I guess I'm still feeling insecure about all these changes. And then when Maya showed up…" she sighed. "I just don't know why she came back."

Tony grabbed her hands and pulled them off his neck and before she could question his move he pulled her toward the bed. She followed his lead and seconds later they were both down to their undergarments and under the covers. They both knew that physical intimacy was out of the question for a few more weeks to give the redhead's body a chance to heal the wounds of birth, but that had not stopped the genius from showing her affection in other ways if he could.

He slid his body so that it lay on top of hers and gave her a long, tender kiss she was happy to return. Once they broke apart he smiled at her, pulled away from her and then readjusted their positions so that her back was now pressed against his chest while they lay on their left sides. Even though it would be morning in less than an hour, the couple had nowhere to go today and they needed to rest as much as James was resting right now, and this position was always the most comfortable for cuddling before drifting off.

"I don't know why she came back," Tony whispered to Pepper as he closed his eyes when he began feeling drowsy. "But she plays no part in my life anymore. My life is now you and Howie and that's all you need to remember, Pep. Maya returning means nothing to me."

"I know, but I still have a feeling… I'm not sure why, but I feel like she's trying to steal you away from me. I know she wouldn't do that, but I guess when I saw how perfect she still looks and how crappy I look, I became afraid that you'd realize that you could've had her and not me."

"Man, you must still be very hormonal, Pepper. The old you wouldn't have cared about how you look compared to anyone else, let alone worry about losing your fiancée to someone else. You know there's nothing to worry about with me. I'm with you and that's all I really need or want."

"I guess you're right," she conceded and closed her eyes when she too began to feel sleepy. "I'm sure once my hormones go back to normal, I'm going to be wondering why the hell I was freaking out over nothing, right? I'm going to feel sillier than I feel now."

"Maybe," he said in a jesting tone. "But let's worry about that later, right now I just want to rest and you should too."

"Mmhhh," she responded, speaking aloud suddenly became a difficult task as tiredness set in. He too only had enough energy to whisper a _goodnight_ to his ginger before they both fell asleep, completely unaware that they were not alone – that their child was not alone, and that the presence that had observed them at the beach months ago was now much closer to them than ever before.

If only James Howard Stark could speak; he would have told them why they all needed to run away and hide, instead of spending his energy with nonstop wailing for hours on end. But sadly, whenever he could sense that the encroaching malevolent presence was near, all the little boy could do to try and give his warning was to cry.

* * *

**A/N:** If you guys need something to read while I update, I recommend the following stories (they are in no particular order). Some of them are in Spanish, but they are worth the translation effort: _Return_ and _Diez Años Después_, by _**Elinorwrites**_; _Misunderstanding_, by _**BabyGotNuggets**_; _Suddenly I See_, by _**crazytomboy78**_; _Yo si te apoyo_, _Doce Años de Extrañarte_ and _Rendirse para Ganar_, by _**CrixArtist**_; _Roca Lunar_, _Venganza_, _Enamorada_, _Buzón de San Valentín_ and _Karma_ by _**Firework471**_; _The True Meaning of Love_, by _**Magnusrae**_ (very sad/tragic ending, I've got to warn you); _Forbidden Fruit_, by _**Rolyn**_; _Baby Genius_, _Thank You_, _Pepperony_ and _Phase_ by _**SilverPedals1402**_; and last but not least (and please note that it's an M-rated fic because there's plenty of explicit sex scenes there), _Exclusive Secrets_, by _**TempduMinuit**_.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: **YAY! Thanks for being patient with me! Here's another chapter for you. I hope you LOVE it. Keep them reviews/favorites/follows coming! They really make this old writer's day ^_^

**IMPORTANT NOTE as of 3/22/14:** This chapter has been edited from its original version. It now has TWO EXTRA SCENES at the end after the ^ xxxXXXxxx ^ symbol.

**Guest Review Responses**

**Toni: In the previous chapter's guest review response you pinpointed of all these clues for us, thank you for that and for this chapter. Maya's up to something...? Not a question; but I'm merely questioning what that 'something' could be and how sweet, innocent Howie factors into it. **– She is up to something, indeed… but it may not be what you think ;)

**Yup, there is definitely something suspicious about Maya. Update soon! **– LOL! I love it how everyone is like: "MAYA DIE YOU BEEOTCH!" And, sadly, you all have a very good reason to be up in arms about it.

**Hi!Great chapter as always!ok am really relieved to see that my two favourite couple are finally together and hope that nothing will EVER change that!Poor tony and pepper being parents is not always an easy task,it's really funny that part where tony had not put jimmy's diaper correctly:-)! ohh,what is Maya doing here?I have a doubt on her sudden soon!oh, by the way i'm a girl:-) **– Nothing ever will… or at least not in the way it did before ;) (JK coughmostlycough).

**Apps: Can't say anything more than THANX to r a moment I thought Maya will kiss him hard….MISS U STARFIRE!** – LOL! I know! That was the intention ;) And I miss being around here, too! Stupid, real life, huh? Ruins everything :(

We're all girls here, huh? My hubby (who betas for me) was hoping he was not the only guy following the story :P

* * *

**Chapter 3: May**

Tony Stark walked out of the elevator that led to the lower-level of the Stark International penthouse where the SI board members and he would meet today. He was so focused on reaching the door to the meeting room that he almost missed Trish's friendly smile and wave by the reception desk and he definitely missed her snickering when she realized that the inventor was trying to munch on his pod and talk on his sandwich wrap. He had been a father for six weeks and it was just now that little James was getting used to the schedule Pepper had designed for him, but this only meant that the inventor and the ginger had weeks of sleep to catch up with.

There were still some drawbacks to the schedule the couple was trying to follow, but so far the ginger had been able to work around minor setbacks, such as the current one where Tony had been scheduled to watch over the baby but was instead attending an impromptu SI meeting to report on his new inventions – or lack thereof. Pepper was scheduled to nap after spending four hours of the night monitoring the baby who was recovering from a minor case of the sniffles, but instead she was watching over the baby again, and as soon as Tony was out of the meeting, he was going to fly home and give Pepper a chance to rest.

The billionaire finally made his way inside the room and sat in his chair, eyes partially closed while he yawned. He did not realize that Howard was already there but when the old man saw his son chewing on his pod and he laughed, Tony became instantly aware that he was not alone in the room.

"Hey there, son," Howard began and sat in his chair, opposite to Tony's, both at the ends of the large conference table. "Baby still keeping you two up?"

"How come you are not answering your phone?" Tony asked in between yawns, completely ignoring the man's question as he was more concerned about why his calls were not getting through. Tony then shook his sandwich wrap at his father to emphasize his point and spoke again. "I've been calling you since I got here!"

"Have you?" Howard asked with a smirk. "I don't think that you've registered that sandwich wrap to the Stark 1 satellite to make and receive calls."

"What?" Tony asked, blinked several times and then stared at his hand. His eyes opened wide and a light blush of embarrassment hit his cheeks. He then looked up to stare at his father who was laughing hard again and he rolled his eyes at his old man. "Give me a break, OK? Howie's been sick."

"Oh," the news startled Howard enough to end his laughter. "How sick? Hospital sick? How come you didn't tell us before?"

"Not hospital sick, no, thank goodness," Tony began and took a bite of his wrap that he had been trying to take out of his pod for the past five minutes. "But sick enough to keep us up, yes. He's got a minor cold."

"A cold? How did he get a cold?"

Tony shrugged and took another bite of his food. "Don't know. Maybe one of the maintenance guys brought it up or something. Pepper and I feel fine."

"Well, at least you two are healthy enough to take care of him. Babies are a lot of work, especially when sick, but it will get easier as he grows up."

"I hope," Tony replied and finished his wrap. "As I hope that this meeting is short. Why the hell are we here, again?"

Howard rolled his eyes. "The usual bull crap, I'm afraid. Our friend Hutchinson wants to know when you are releasing new tech. He thinks that new inventions should be pouring in by now since you haven't created anything new this year."

Tony groaned and put away his pod. "Did he forget I just had a kid? Besides, he could've just asked me via e-mail, the jerk."

"He doesn't want to talk to Pepper," Howard reminded him, knowing very well that even now, the ginger was still the inventor's gatekeeper. "You know how he is."

"Yeah, and at this point, I guess I'd rather deal with him myself. Pepper doesn't need any headaches right now."

"Neither do you."

"Perhaps. But if you think I look bad, you should see her. I'm seriously thinking of borrowing Jarvis a few days a week just so that she can rest. If she's restless then I'm restless and if I'm restless then she is too and…" he sighed and shrugged. "It's getting better but it's not good enough yet."

"That wouldn't be a bad idea, you know?" Howard offered. "Why don't you take him full-time for a few weeks?"

"I don't want us to get spoiled and then end up suffering more when he leaves. Just a few days out of the week will be fine."

Howard shrugged and stared at his watch. "Whatever you think is best, Anthony. I'll talk to Jarvis and let you know how that goes. Are you ready for the meeting, though? It's time to start it."

"Yeah, I guess. I'll try to make it quick by bullshitting my way through it. I actually do have some ideas in mind, but they relate more to pregnancy and baby-related inventions than a new phone or bike."

"OK, whatever you think will shut them up." Howard replied. His finger hovered over the button to activate the projection of the board members but he never got to actually press it. His attention and Tony's were instead diverted from the meeting to the two unexpected visitors that slammed their way inside the room, completely ignoring the flustered-looking Trish running behind them.

"Sir, I'm sorry. They wouldn't listen," Trish said hurriedly, always the professional despite her current romantic relationship with Howard Stark. "They don't have an appointment and they refused to make one."

Howard glared at Nick Fury for a moment before his eyes softened again when he stared at his long-time assistant. "It's OK, Trish. I'm sure Nick has a very good reason to storm in here without an invitation… _again_."

"You bet I do, Howard," Nick replied and his eyes then landed on Tony who was shaking his head in disapproval of the Head of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s antics. Even though the inventor was surprised that Nick Fury and Maria Hill had appeared out of nowhere and they were definitely uninvited, he was not surprised that the man thought that they had the right to do so. Nick Fury's status allowed him to barge into any place at any time for any reason with the excuse that S.H.I.E.L.D. was an international organization and thus had jurisdiction everywhere in the world.

"I'm here for your son." Fury continued.

"Wouldn't be the first time," Tony mumbled, stood up from his chair and faced Nick. "What do you want now? More weapons? A high-tech, bionic eye patch? Or did you lose another one of my enemies that can abduct my kid and my fiancée and came here to tell me about it?"

"No," Fury began, walked over to Tony, grabbed his right wrist, used it to violently turn over his body and smashed the blue-eyed boy against the table. "I'm here to arrest you, Tony Stark."

"WHAT?" Tony spat and before he could pull away from Nick's grip, Maria Hill helped her director bind Tony's arms using one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s technologically-advanced handcuffs. "What the hell are you doing? What pissed you off now?"

"Tony Stark, A.K.A. Iron Man," Nick began. "You're under arrest for the murder of Rhona Erwin. You're coming with us, son."

xxxXXXxxx

The room he was in was not foreign to him. He had screamed his lungs out at Whitney once before in one of these containment cells right after Pepper had made her peace with the blonde after convincing Gene to remove her from the trance she was in, but the situation was slightly different at the present moment. Instead of Whitney being the one under custody and scrutiny, it was Tony Stark who was under fire, and instead of Pepper Potts doing the questioning, it was Nick Fury that played the interrogator part. Or at least for now it was.

Roberta Rhodes had been called by Howard Stark immediately after Fury had left the board meeting room with Tony in tow and the lawyer and the senior inventor were both currently talking to the legal representatives of S.H.I.E.L.D. Tony had not been allowed to leave his containment cell since he had arrived at the Helicarrier and had also not been allowed to speak with anyone but Hill or Fury. The Head of S.H.I.E.L.D. was aware that, as opposed to the last time that Tony Stark had been arrested, he was no longer a child – he was twenty-one years old now. In addition, S.H.I.E.L.D. was an international association that did not have to follow the justice system guidelines of the United States or any other country for that matter. In other words: they could keep Tony there for the rest of his life if they wanted to.

His hands were still bound by the electronic cuffs, and even though he was certain that he could have, a long time ago in fact, hacked into them and disabled them by using Extremis, he did not feel like making matters worse for himself right now. It was bittersweet to him, the fact that years ago he would have not hesitated to sleaze his way out of something like this by hacking the entire flying fortress if he so wanted to, perhaps even going the extra mile just to piss off Nick Fury with his over-the-top actions, but things had certainly changed since he had first put on the suit and both the inventor and Fury knew it.

Before, way back when, his actions only directly affected him and him alone. If he decided to blow himself up to save the world, that was his problem. If he decided to abandon his company, that was his deal. If he decided to stay up all day and all night doing nothing but patrolling the streets, no one would have a say on it. Today, however, years later, the decisions were no longer as easy or as white-and-black anymore. Today, every action taken, every word spoken, crawled its way back to his family at home.

His family – Pepper and James – the only reason he was keeping his big mouth shut up until now. His family; the reason why he had ended the life of the person he was today being accused of murdering in cold blood. His family; the reason why he had not told Nick Fury exactly what he thought about his idea of arresting Iron Man.

"I sure hope you're not waiting for your phone call or your attorney to talk to me. That's not how it works around here, Stark."

"I know. I'm not under any delusions." Tony said, finally breaking the long silence, his eyes blankly stared at Fury. "I'm not even going to deny what I did. There's no need. I don't regret it and she deserved it."

"You're not one with authority to decide that. That's why you're here."

"You had no issues when I broke Ghost's neck."

"Prick had it coming," Fury said, sat back in his chair that rested across Tony's and crossed his arms over his chest. "It was pure self-defense; plain and simple. You were unarmed and not in a suit and he was about to slit Potts's throat – we could confirm it by the prints on her neck. This time, though, you had all the advantage in the world. Plus, you had the _choice_ to stop yourself and you didn't."

"The choice?" Tony asked with a disbelieving scoff and a shake of his head. He briefly stared to his left at one of the one-way glass walls that encompassed the small room and narrowed his eyes at it, wondering who could be standing behind it this very moment, dissecting him and his actions and taking to heart every word he said. He knew that Pepper was innocent here, completely not at fault for his own actions, so he was not truly troubled by the possibility that she could be currently being given the same treatment as he in some other place on the Helicarrier, but the fear that Fury would take it out on her or the baby in other ways he had not yet thought about was still gnawing at his soul.

He had not even told Pepper the details of Rhona Erwin's demise and the redhead had never asked for the specifics since more important matters had been at hand. He should have seen it coming, nevertheless, that she would eventually find out what he had done; she always did. As he had just told Nick Fury, he held no regrets for it, and if one single regret ever came out of this, it would be the fact that Pepper was going to find out about his deed from someone other than him.

Tony finally returned his gaze to Nick Fury and exhaled in barely controlled anger. "Talk to me about choices when it's _your_ kid's and _your_ wife's lives on the line. Talk to me about choices when a birth is the only reason why a psychopath didn't decapitate your fiancée. There are no choices when the lives of those you love are in danger, Nick. You, of all people, should know that."

"Potts was in no danger when Erwin broke into your company since she wasn't even in the building in the first place. And Rhona was no threat to you when you had her under your grip, Stark. There were a million ways that you could've handled the situation, but you chose the easy way out."

"The easy way out?" Tony asked in disbelief. "You make it sound as if I enjoy killing people."

"Based on what I saw, I'd say that's just about right."

Tony frowned and his jaw tightened. "Are you saying that I'm heartless? Are you saying that I can't control myself? If that's what the problem is, then you oughta look at yourself in the mirror, Fury. I'm not the one that was willing to blow up an entire fleet of your own people when you couldn't control the Living Laser."

Nick Fury gave him a long, silent stare before he finally stood up from the chair. He rested his hands on the table, putting his weight on them, and he then leaned down to stare at the inventor with every ounce of contempt he could.

"All I'm saying is that I hope the day you snap and try to hurt the ones you love, that someone will be there to keep them safe from _YOU_. What's to stop you from going on a rampage? What's to stop you from snapping someone's neck if you think that's what they deserve? When you get angry, you lose all control, and I hope that someone is there to save Pepper from you when you decide she deserves to be dealt with… or that at least someone is there to wipe her blood from your hands – just like you did with Rhona Erwin."

Tony's response, in the blink of an eye, was to use the cuffs and his strength to hit Nick Fury's chin. The General was pushed back a few feet but he quickly recovered to stop the angry bout Tony was about to engage in. The inventor then hacked into the cuffs using Extremis and when the heavy contraption hit the floor, he jumped over the narrow table and tried to get a choke hold on the older man. Nick Fury, however, knowing beforehand that his words would incite this behavior, was more than ready for him now and he easily flipped him over, made the blue-eyed boy hit the ground and then sat on him.

"Get off me! Get the fuck of me!" Tony cried. "I'm going to kill you, you son of a bitch!"

"For what? So that you can prove me right? Or is it because I know that your fiancée is in danger with you? What are you going to do next? Suffocate your kid with a pillow? Throw Potts from your high-rise? Or are you just going to bust her pretty little head open with a repulsor of yours?"

"Shut up!" Tony yelled as he struggled to try to remove the General from his back. "You don't have a fucking clue what you're saying! I'd never hurt Pepper! I'd never hurt my son!"

"Really? Because I have video evidence that states the contrary; that you can't control your anger! I just hope that someone is there to stop you from killing your fiancée. She can be a stubborn bitch but I like her. If I'm not there to stop you, I hope someone else is there to put a bullet through your head before you kill her."

"SHUT UP!"

Nick Fury responded to Tony's demand by lifting him from the floor, turning around in place and slamming his front against the glass wall near the entrance door. Even in his anger and with his enhancement, the billionaire was not able to break the hold the General had on him. The more he struggled, the tighter Fury held onto him, and if it had not been for Pepper walking inside the room at that instant, Tony would have shut down the engines of the Helicarrier just to spite the man.

"What the hell, Fury?" Pepper glared at the General. "I thought you said he was calm!"

"He _was_!" Fury replied, his grip on the inventor not loosening even though Tony was no longer fighting him and instead was staring at Pepper with guilty eyes. "But he had to go get all worked up over nothing, as always."

"Worked up over _nothing_?" Tony practically snarled but did not move. "You just said I'd hurt my family! You just called me a fucking serial killer of my own blood! How the heck did you expect me to react, you asshole?"

"That's enough, Tony," Pepper said between gritted teeth. "And you, Nick, let him go. Tony and I need to talk… in private."

Fury narrowed his eye at her. "You know how I feel about leaving anyone alone with him… even you… _especially_ you, actually."

"I'm sure I'll be fine. He won't hurt me and even if he does, there're, like, a hundred agents watching through the walls."

"And they're not leaving," Fury said, his hands still on Tony. "The most 'in private' you're going to get is you two alone in here while we all watch and hear."

"That's not gonna do," Pepper said. "You can stay outside but I want our voices to be muted."

"I can do that, no problem," Tony said with a smirk. "In fact, let's do that right now," he added and narrowed his eyes in the way he always did when hacking a computer but one glare from the ginger made him stop in his tracks.

"That's not necessary, right, Nick? Tony doesn't _have_ to hack your surveillance system to give us some privacy, right?"

Nick Fury eyed her for a moment before he rolled his eye and sighed in exasperation. It appeared to him that the conversation that he and the redhead had had before he had interrogated Tony had gone in one ear and out the other. Either Pepper was extremely sure that Tony would never lay a finger on her, or the girl was too much in love to believe that her fiancée could do any wrong. Fury was betting on the latter to be the case.

"Fine," he finally relented and let go of Tony. "But if he does anything out of line…"

The General trailed his words. He knew that he did not have to finish his statement for it to be clearly interpreted by the couple and Pepper's nod confirmed it with him that she had understood his silent threat. If Tony displayed even the minimum amount of aggressive behavior, Fury was going to have his agents shoot him dead on the spot. Pepper could not forget his warning – his _promise_ to make good on it if he believed that Tony was a danger to anyone else or himself, and this was the only reason why she was not going off at the inventor right off the bat; or at least not until they were home where screaming at each other would not be met with capital punishment.

Fury glared at Tony one last time and reluctantly walked out of the room, leaving the two heroes in an uncomfortable silence Pepper immediately broke.

"Let's just sit down, alright?" She suggested, and a second later she was picking up the table from the floor with his help. Five seconds after that they were staring at each other – Tony back in his chair and Pepper taking what had been Fury's seat – and they remained silent for what felt like an eternity for everyone watching outside. Pepper was still trying to recover from what she had learned about Tony a few moments ago, and Tony was trying not to further enrage his fiancée. He could already tell that she was trying her best to remain supportive of his actions, but even Pepper had a limit on what she would put up with from other people for him.

Finally, after a full minute of silence, Pepper rubbed her eyes with her hands as if the action would erase the gory images of Rhona's exploding head from her mind and she then spoke in a soft tone that she knew would not set him on edge but would tell him that she was quite upset with him.

"What were you thinking?"

The loaded question made the genius look down at his lap for a moment as if he were deep in thought. He then knitted his brows, exhaled slowly and looked up to stare at her hazel eyes before finally replying. "You know what I was thinking, Pep."

Pepper closed her eyes and sighed. This was going to be more difficult than what she had originally thought.

"I would've Tony, if…" She opened her eyes once more and locked them with his. "If I hadn't seen the footage or hadn't heard the voice recording. I would've known if… if she hadn't begged you for her life. You-you murdered her, Tony. You didn't just kill her, you… you tortured her _and_ killed her. And I don't understand why you had to do it. I can't believe you'd do such a thing."

"Why not, Pepper?" He retorted, his voice slightly higher than before, but he was careful not to make any sudden movements. "You wanted her dead, too, remember? You were the one who tried killing her first."

"Out of self-defense, Tony! She was going to kill you and I was pregnant and I couldn't fight her like that. Blowing her up in the suit was all I could do at that point to stop her. She was asking for it then, but when you had her in your hands…" The ginger shook her head lightly, her eyes shifted to her right and the images and words of the Goth girl hit her again. She then clenched her eyes shut and held back tears before she finished her statement. "She was asking to live. She was pleading you to let her live."

He slowly slid his hands across the table and held her hands in his, his thumbs stroked her knuckles. The gesture made her stare at him again, this time with tears of anger and disappointment trailing down her cheeks. Pepper waited, _expected_ for Tony to accept his culpability, but when he finally decided to speak again, the redhead was surprised by his words. "Pepper, do you remember the night you were looking at adoption centers? Do you remember what I told you then?"

The ginger's eyes shifted left and right as she searched her mind for the memory, for the conversation that had taken place that night. She knew that he was not referring to the issue about the adoption, but to the other conversation that happened afterwards – the one that made her as upset as this one.

_Pepper closed her eyes briefly and when she opened them again, his face was inches from hers. He pressed a soft kiss to her lips and then her knuckles and spoke again. "Do you really want to give him up? Is that really what you want?"_

"_No," she choked and shook her head. "No, I don't."_

"_Then you don't have to," he told her firmly. "I'll see to that, Pepper. I promised you – I __**swore**__ to you, that I wouldn't let anything happen to him, and I will do anything I can to protect you and him. This baby is staying with us whether whoever sent those birds to kill him wants it or not. They are just going to have to kiss my iron ass if they think they can convince me otherwise. The SI board couldn't stop me. Stane and Hammer couldn't stop me. S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't stop me and the fucking Makluan couldn't stop me either. Whoever these assholes are, I want to see them try – no, I __**dare**__ them to try to hurt you or the baby. I will kill them, Pepper. I __**will**__ kill them when the time comes; them and anyone else who tries to take you away. I'm not taking any chances."_

_Pepper closed her eyes again and threw her arms around his shoulders. She loathed hearing him talk like this – so full of hate and thirsty for vengeance, but she really could not help it at this point. She was certain that some of that same anger and violent tendencies he felt were embedded in her by now, too. How could anyone not expect it after everything they had survived? How could anyone not develop a sense of extreme self-defense when sometimes it appeared as if everything and everyone was out to get you?_

Her eyes landed on his again and she shook her head in disappointment. "Not taking any chances," she said to him to let him know that she remembered what he had said to her and he nodded for her to know that she had remembered it correctly. She did not dare to repeat his entire promise to her in case Nick had not kept his promise not to listen in to their conversation just now. "You're not taking any chances."

"No," he shook his head lightly. "I'm not. Not with you. Not with James."

"What if…" She swallowed hard, the weight of his words finally dawning on her. "What if not taking it gets you killed? What if not taking it… what if…"

Tony hung his head. He brought her hands to his lips and placed a single kiss on the back of her hands and kept them on his face. He then closed his eyes and held tighter onto her hands but did not verbally respond. He knew he did not have to. He knew that she understood his silent reply. Pepper clenched her eyes shut and returned the strength of his grip on her and the couple remained silent for a long time until Maria Hill announced it was time for Pepper to leave.

xxxXXXxxx

Nick Fury watched from his position behind the glass walls as Pepper stood up from the chair following Maria Hill's notification. Tony immediately stood up with her and kept holding onto her hands until he went around the table and pulled her to him for an embrace. The couple hugged for another moment in which the inventor whispered something to the ginger while he stroked the back of her head a few times. Pepper nodded a couple of times before they finally pulled away from each other. Tony then held Pepper's face in his hands and gave her a quick but passionate kiss his fiancée eagerly returned and a second later the Rescue alter ego followed Agent Hill out of the room.

Once he knew that Pepper was out of hearing range, the General turned slightly to his right to stare at the brunette standing next to him – who had also been watching the entire scene – and sighed. "I hope you have a good reason for being here, Ms. Hansen. I'm sure you can appreciate what your presence here entails for our plans."

"I know and I actually do have a good reason for showing my face around here." Maya responded and gave the General a curt nod but her eyes were glued to the inventor who was now being handcuffed again with a non-computerized set of bracelets this time. She visibly flinched when she saw a familiar-looking metal brace being attached to his neck and she almost gasped when his body suddenly convulsed and then collapsed on the floor, unconscious.

_At least Pepper didn't have to see this_, she thought bitterly, truly grateful that the spunky redhead was not a witness of how criminals were treated aboard the Helicarrier. If Pepper knew what they were about to do to the blue-eyed boy, Maya had no doubt that Rescue would blow the entire ship to Kingdom Come faster than anyone on board could react to make a difference. Based on what she had learned recently, S.H.I.E.L.D. – Nick Fury included – truly underestimated the redhead's abilities and determination when it came to anything that related to her fiancée, Tony Stark.

"So?" Fury began once he saw the agents take an unconscious Tony away to the maximum-security containment area of the fortress. "What are you here for?"

"I'm here to advocate for Tony." Maya replied. "I'm here to clear things up."

"Advocate for him?" Fury scoffed. "What are you, his lawyer, now? Last I checked, Ms. Hansen, you didn't go to law school."

"I didn't need to. I went to college for genetics, biomolecular engineering and cellular biology research, and that alone, General Fury, is more powerful than any law of any country around the world."

Nick Fury stared up and down at the woman who was yet to show any signs of bluffing or of being intimidated by his presence. He had been surprised that she had suddenly shown up at their doorstep, as if she had nothing to fear from S.H.I.E.L.D. and it had been his curiosity alone that was currently saving her from sharing a prison cell with the billionaire. Based on the brunette's overly-confident attitude, it now appeared to the General that his curiosity was about to pay off.

"Why don't we cut to the chase, then?" Fury began. "How exactly are you here to advocate for Stark? Are you going to try to cut us a deal for his freedom? Because, I can assure you, Ms. Hansen, that's not going to fly. The World Security Council wants Iron Man permanently decommissioned and sentenced to life in prison, and I doubt that you have anything with you that can overturn that decision."

Maya did not flinch at hearing his words and instead gave him a knowing smirk – Pepper was no longer the only one with good researching skills.

"I'm well aware of that, General. And I assure you that what I have to offer will guarantee Tony's freedom from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the WSC."

"Is that so?" Fury asked with a hint of incredulity. "Are you going to offer us a fixed Extremis version in exchange for lowering Tony Stark's sentence? You know your stepfather still owes us that perfected serum, right? How is he, Dr. Killian, by the way? Is he still forgetting where he leaves his car keys?"

"Aldrich is fine," Maya retorted. "He's doing better than most of us, actually."

"Oh, I'm sure of that," Fury said. "If you actually make it out of here, be sure to give him my regards."

"I will," Maya said and finally faced Fury with a determined look. "Right after I explain to you why you need to set Tony free. Why you've got the wrong man."

"You mean Stark?"

"Yes," she said. "Tony's innocent. You can't charge him with the murder of Rhona Erwin."

"And why is that?"

"Because I made him do it," she deadpanned. "It's my fault he killed her. He did it because of me."

The shock on the General's face was evident, but what was not evident was how Maya Hansen, who had not even been near the scene when Tony had crushed Rhona's skull, was responsible for the most atrocious action Iron Man had committed so far.

"You have my attention, Ms. Hansen."

"I knew I would."

^ xxxXXXxxx ^ (New Scene 1)

Not many situations shook the Head of S.H.I.E.L.D. to his core, but whenever something or someone managed to catch him off-guard or gave him information he was not privy to, it always made him feel as if he was not doing his job well enough. He could not help but feel like a failure even though he was aware that even the best of the best made mistakes, as he knew that in his line of business, mistakes made typically cost lives – _innocent _lives. Yet, erring was definitely a human trait and at the end of the day, as trained and experienced in combat and strategy as someone as he could be and despite his moderate physical enhancements, a human was all he truly was inside.

The more he thought about Maya Hansen's important message to him, the more he recognized that he had failed the inventor and the redhead. He had failed to keep them safe. He had failed to protect them as he had always intended to do. He had failed at his most significant mission as the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Phase 3 was quickly becoming a complete failure and all he could do about it at this point was sit back and let life take its course – let unfold the events he had been trying to prevent from happening in the first place. Years of preparation and intelligence gathering had gone down the drain in seconds with the information Maya had brought to them, and as much as he hated to accept it, one of his main suspects had turned out to be his greatest informant in this whole operation he had been overseeing for ages.

That had really stung him. The fact that he had been proven useless and wrong by one of the leading perpetrators of the mission he had been charged to avert. Tony Stark and Pepper Potts were in grave danger – more than they had ever been before, and all Nick Fury could do for them was pretend that he did not know what was coming their way. He had to let it happen. He had to let it break them. He had to let it hit them hard in the face. Only then would his efforts prove successful. Only then would they be able to fight back. Only then would Tony and Pepper be ready to do anything to save the world.

Even if that cost them their lives or the lives of those they loved.

_So young_, Nick thought with bitterness. _They're so young._

Even if the relationship between the heroes and S.H.I.E.L.D. had somewhat turned sour ever since Stark Solutions had bought Hammer Multinational and they had taken away their weapons, Nick Fury could not deny the fact that he still liked the weird duo. Business was just business, and on a personal note, he actually admired the power couple as much or more than some of their most devoted fans did. His reasons for admiring them were different than the ones their aficionados who followed their every move had, but that did not make his own motives any less valid. That did not make his job easier either, especially not today.

He had tried his best to put off the arrest of Tony Stark even though the WSC had wanted him behind bars the same day he had killed Rhona Erwin. Nick had done whatever he had been able to do to stall the World Security Council's efforts while the baby was born and while the couple set a routine, but he had only been able to hold off for so long. The Council was rather shortsighted in these kinds of matters and had only seen a deranged man in a suit of armor on the loose. They did not have time and resources to waste on his recommendations and they did not see the Tony Stark that Nick Fury did; the one that had killed out of anger and desperation. The one that had and would kill again for the ones he loved.

"_You had no issues when I broke Ghost's neck."_

"_Prick had it coming," Fury said, sat back in his chair that rested across Tony's and crossed his arms over his chest. "It was pure self-defense; plain and simple. You were unarmed and not in a suit and he was about to slit Potts's throat – we could confirm it by the prints on her neck. This time, though, you had all the advantage in the world. Plus, you had the __**choice**__ to stop yourself and you didn't."_

"_The choice?" Tony finally returned his gaze to Nick Fury and exhaled in barely controlled anger. "Talk to me about choices when it's __**your**__ kid's and __**your **__wife's lives on the line. Talk to me about choices when a birth is the only reason why a psychopath didn't decapitate your fiancée. There are no choices when the lives of those you love are in danger, Nick. You, of all people, should know that."_

And he did. He did know it. Too well, in fact.

It may had not been a child or a wife, but Nick Fury knew a thing or two about killing for the ones you loved… or killing_ the_ ones you loved. Even if he himself had not been successful in killing his own brother and Jake "Scorpio" Fury had ended up killing himself, the fact remained that Nick Fury had tried to kill his own flesh and blood for the sake of others – for the sake of saving the world. The question remained, however, on whether Tony Stark or Pepper Potts would be able to do the same if – when – the time came to do so.

"General Fury, do you have a moment, sir?"

"Come in," Nick responded and seconds later his second-in-command closed the door behind her after walking inside the General's private office. She stood in front of his desk, hands behind her back and still as ever, but it was evident in her eyes that something was clearly bothering her and Fury knew exactly what that something was as it was troubling him too. She had been extremely against arresting the inventor and had also been doing everything in her power to help him leave as soon as possible. It had taken Agent Hill the summoning of years of training to keep her from choking the brunette when she had reappeared, especially after learning that there would be no more efforts to keep Tony Stark from being locked up in S.H.I.E.L.D. for a while thanks to the biologist's intervention and recommendation.

"It is not I who needs convincing, Agent Hill." Fury said to let her know that they shared views on the matter. "You know that."

"I understand, sir," she began. "But you know how I feel about trusting Maya Hansen. She has been on our priority watch list for years. Why did we not arrest her on the spot when we had the chance? We had every right to do so. The Council would've exonerated Stark in exchange for her and her stepfather, Dr. Aldrich Killian. It would've been more than an equal trade!"

"Tables have turned, Maria," Fury responded and with the mention of her given name, the Agent knew that she was currently speaking to Nick Fury, the man, and not Nick Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Maya has us by the balls."

"But she could be bluffing," Maria reasoned. "She could be lying to us and trying to stall the operation for her personal benefit. You know she can't ever be trusted. You know what she used to do to Stark before she left."

"I do, and I know what she's doing to him _now_. And that's why I know she's not bluffing. Stalling, yes, definitely. But lying? Not at all. I agree with her that we _need_ to stall. We need to take a step back and just watch it unfold. Otherwise, our cover will be blown and Stark and Potts will be left vulnerable. More than they are now."

Maria shook her head fervidly, refusing to believe what she had just heard. She knew that telling Tony and Pepper the truth about what was being done to them would only cause more trouble and would not prevent their deaths, but she also found it unfair that they now had to listen to and trust a woman who she would not trust with fake money. Agent Hill had told Pepper once before that Maya Hansen had nothing to fear and Maria would stand by those words unless proven otherwise.

"_Maybe I can help you understand," Pepper said after a pause. "Maybe I can help you help her."_

_ Maria could not help it when her eyebrows shot up, shock evident on her face at hearing Pepper's words. "That'd be quite ironic, Miss Potts. Ironic and brave."_

_ "Well, I'm no longer Tony's girlfriend. At this point, it'd be Maya Hansen who would have to watch out for herself, not me."_

_ "Well, if you ask me, I think Miss Hansen has less to worry about than you ever did Miss Potts."_

"It's not my position to question you, sir," Maria continued after a pause. "But I can't help to think that you're making a mistake. Hansen simply cannot be trusted. She's just trying to help herself get out of the mess she got herself in."

"She's not," Fury replied. "She's got nothing to lose or gain at this point. I can assure you, Maria: she's not going to betray us."

"Then why isn't she here? Why isn't she fixing everything if she can?"

"Because she can't. She can only move forward with the plans. There's no stopping it anymore. We just have to let it roll."

"And what about Stark and his family?" Maria insisted. "Why are we running all those medical tests on him? I just don't understand, sir. And, with all due respect, I'm tired of having to order my agents to drag Tony's beaten body back to his cell every time we finish putting him through those tests Maya ordered we do on him. I don't see any point to them."

"I can't tell you why, Agent Hill, but I can tell you that they're needed. They're probably our last hope to help Stark. If we don't run those tests and find the answer to what we are looking for… Well, he's probably not going to make it past Christmas."

"He's not going to make it anyway, Director," Maria deadpanned, a scowl on her face. "We might as well let him spend the rest of his days with his family. With his little boy and with Miss Potts."

Nick Fury rarely saw on Hill any palpable signs of disapproval of orders given to her and even though he could see her obvious dissatisfaction of the entire ordeal, there was nothing anyone could do – not even he. Tony Stark's life was on a countdown, and the countdown had been fast-tracked by Maya Hansen's return.

"Is Miss Potts still demanding to see her fiancée again?"

"She is," Maria responded. "But every time she has called or come down, I've given her the standard response. How long do you think that will keep her from using her suit to force her way in here, though? You know she has an army of suits at her disposal and I'm sure Stark has taught her how to use them all at the same time."

"I'm sure he has. But she'll stay away long enough to serve our purposes. Besides, she won't just barge in here like she always did before. She has to think about her kid now. She won't run the risk of leaving her son without a father AND a mother. I know that for a fact."

_"Are you kidding me, Fury?" The redhead spat as soon as she walked inside the Helicarrier and spotted the General. "I knew you were always full of shit, but this? This is a new low for you! What do you want this time? More weapons? A donation to your eye-patch foundation? Because you're NOT getting either."_

_ "Glad to see you too, Ms. Potts," Fury said in his usual condescending tone if just to keep up with appearances while being watched by the other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents he was learning not to trust. He knew that the Council was monitoring the arrest of Tony Stark very closely and the last thing he needed was to clue them in on what he was trying to accomplish behind their backs. "Or is it Mrs. Stark? I haven't gotten an invitation to the wedding yet, so I'm not sure."_

_ "And at this rate you aren't getting one. Why is Tony here? Why did you take him?"_

_ "What do you mean why is he here? Where else do you expect him to be? At home with you and your kid?"_

_ "Of course! What lies are you devising now to get your damned weapons back? Tony told me that you blackmailed him years ago by telling him you would tell me the truth about how I'd lost my memory but that's useless to you now. So, what cunning plan have you thought of since then? Whatever it is, it's not gonna work. I know Tony wouldn't want you to have any weapons no matter what you threaten us with."_

_ Fury smirked, silently admiring the drive of the girl before him and hoped her determination would not expire before its time. "Still his gatekeeper, huh?"_

_ "'til the day I die."_

_ "I'm sure," he said and fought the urge to say anything else on the matter. "But, anyway, this is not about weapons, Miss Potts." Fury assured her. "This is more important than that."_

_ "Like what?"_

_ "Like the fact that your husband-to-be killed Rhona Erwin in cold blood the day your baby was born." Nick Fury replied and he could tell by the look of shock that briefly crossed the ginger's eyes that she was not aware of this fact._

_ "What?"_

_ "Ah!" Fury crossed his arms over his chest. "He hasn't told you, has he?"_

_ "No," she breathed and lightly shook her head. "Tony… Tony wouldn't… and… if he did… he… he'd had a reason. Like with Ghost. He had a good reason, I'm sure."_

_ "He would've… he did for a while… and until a certain point. But he crossed the line this time, Ms. Potts. He had a chance to stop himself and he chose not to. He had me telling him to stop. He had Rhona Erwin begging for her life and he chose to crush her skull."_

_ "I don't believe you. You're lying. Tony might be irrational when he's mad… but he's a good man. He wouldn't kill just to kill."_

_ "But he did."_

_ "According to who? You?"_

_ "According to everyone who has seen the footage."_

_ Pepper narrowed her eyes at him and even from a distance the General could see her knuckles turning white. She swallowed visibly and took a deep breath and after staring over her shoulder to look at Virgil holding baby James in his arms by the entrance of the Helicarrier bridge, she returned her gaze toward Fury._

_ "Show me," she told him. "Show me the footage."_

_ "Are you sure?"_

_ "Yes."_

_ "It's not pretty."_

_ "I don't care. I need to see it. I need to see it myself. And then… and then I need to see Tony. Is he alright?"_

_ "He's calm, all things considered."_

_ "Does he know why he's here?"_

_ "Yes."_

_ "What did he say?"_

_ "Nothing. He's been pretty quiet since we arrived. Maybe you can get him to talk."_

_ "And if I do? Would that help?"_

_ "I don't think so," he shook his head. "He's beyond our help now. This is not a matter of the States' legal system. This is a world-threat. The WSC wants me to label him as a terrorist. They have all the evidence they need to prove that he is."_

_ "For one person? For killing __**one**__ person?"_

_ "There's more to it but I can't reveal it to you. Showing you the video is actually against the WSC mandates but I can make an exception for you."_

_ "In exchange for what?"_

_ "I'd say for weapons, but I think I know the answer to that."_

_ "You do."_

_ Fury chuckled. "Yes, I do. Anyone who knows you two, knows the answer to that. And I did have something on Tony back then. I did blackmail him, but now… I have nothing, and I have nothing on you."_

_ "You have my fiancée."_

_ "But you still won't give us weapons."_

_ "No."_

_ "What if Tony's life depended on it? What if I told you giving anyone a fleet of suits would save his life? What, then?"_

_ The redhead pursed her lips and the shine in her eyes told Nick that she was holding back tears. Even if her silence went on for a few seconds, he knew that she was not even considering his question. He already knew the answer to his own question posed to her, he had just asked it to make sure that she knew the correct answer herself._

_ "Then," she swallowed hard. "Then I guess my baby would only have his mom."_

_ "Good answer, Miss Potts." Fury said with a nod. "Very good answer."_

"Sir?" Maria Hill called him for the third time since he had spaced out on her moments ago. She was tempted to wave a hand in front of her superior and maybe even snap her fingers at him but so far she had held back. "You were saying?"

"Yes," Fury began. "She… she won't be a problem. She'll stay away long enough for us to finish our tests on Stark. Or at least until the Council is… sidetracked."

Maria raised a single brow. "By what?"

"By the mention of the real enemy. By the realization that Stark is not who they think he is."

"When would that be?"

Fury shrugged. "Can't really say. Maya will send me the notification."

Maria held back a sigh. "And meanwhile? We keep doing this to him? We keep torturing him?"

"We can't make an omelet…"

"Without leaving a child without his father," Maria replied with a frown. "Permission to be dismissed, sir."

The General furrowed his brows at her comment and even if he agreed with her, the fact remained that nothing could be done to stop it. S.H.I.E.L.D. had to deal with this. Tony had to put up with this. Pepper had to put up with this. And if their kid ended up fatherless or motherless, then so it would be. Life was not fair, anyway, and it had been rather unfair for the pair of heroes as of late.

"Permission granted," Fury said after a short pause, and after Maria Hill left his office, he returned to doing some more brooding of his own.

^ xxxXXXxxx ^ (New Scene 2)

_S.H.I.E.L.D. knows_, Tony thought as he lay on the bed of his cell, unable to move and hardly able to breath or blink. The round of tests had been much rougher today than any other day and he had a feeling that they would only worsen as time went by. No one told him what the tests were for but he was a scientist himself. He could read the signs. He could read the computers. He knew what they were searching for.

_Extremis is failing me and S.H.I.E.L.D. knows about it._

An act; his arrest had been nothing but an act. Or at least for Nick Fury it had been, as the inventor doubted that the WSC even knew about how Extremis worked. Agent Mallen had been a complete accident and failure, and after searching for the records of the former agent by recently hacking the S.H.I.E.L.D. database using his computer-manipulation gift, the blue-eyed boy now knew that Agent Mallen had died months ago. Of Extremis. Quite literally, in fact.

_Is this why they were messing with the Z-Gas? Is this why they were trying to perfect Extremis by merging it with Z0M31-E? Did they know this would happen to me?_

Was Nick Fury actually trying to help him survive whatever had killed Agent Mallen?

Tony would have groaned at the idea if his entire body was not in pain.

He had been aware of some recent_ glitches_ when using Extremis ever since Rhona Erwin had returned, but he had attributed them to just recovering from whatever she had done to hack their servers. Then, he had attributed his inability to use Extremis to hack into his own suits as just another hiccup in the system, maybe even a result of being tired, but he could no longer deny the truth that he saw and felt. Something was wrong with him, very wrong, and Extremis was definitely involved.

_I can't tell Pepper. Not until I'm sure._

Lying was not the best option, he knew that very well, but telling her he was probably going to die soon was not something you told a loved one unless you were absolutely positive about it. He would still have to prepare for the possibility, but he would most certainly not waste Pepper's tears or worry for something that _probably_ had a cure.

_I'm sorry, Pepper._ Tony clenched his eyes shut. _I'm so sorry._

He had made her promises, plenty of times and plenty of them, and it appeared as if he would not be able to keep them all. He had promised her a wedding he was yet to carry on and he had promised her a life of happiness he had not been able to give her either. Yes, they had been mostly happy for a while now, especially after the birth of their son, but he knew that being locked up in a cell was not part of the plan. She needed him and so did James, and if it was not for the fact that him staying put helped them stay off the WSC's radar, he would had not been cooperating at all with any of the crazy things that S.H.I.E.L.D. had made him do so far.

Such as practically draining half of his blood today.

He opened his eyes again and with a lot of effort pushed himself to sit up on the bed and rested his back against the wall. The mattress was not the most comfortable one in the world, but after living in the Maggia lair for a month, this was not as bad as he thought it would be. At least he was sleeping on a real bed and not on the floor and he at least had access to a shower and real food every day.

At least Pepper and James were comfortable and healthy back at home.

Yet, the knowledge that his discomfort resulted in the protection of his family did nothing for how much he missed them. How much he wanted to see them. How much he wanted to be with them again. In just a couple of months and ever since the redhead had given birth to their son, and despite struggling with parenthood, Tony had developed a deeper connection with his fiancée than he had ever thought possible. He was not sure what it was or why or even when it had happened, but he had begun to see his redhead in a new light.

He had always preached and had constantly told her that he loved her even before they had gotten together for good, but as of late saying the words to her brought a pain to his chest. It was as if acknowledging his feelings for her somehow physically hurt him and he was starting to wonder if what he felt when he uttered those words to the redhead was nothing more than part of him fearing what it would be like to never say those words to her again – what it would be like to never see her again. He had believed before that he loved her, but now he knew that love did not begin to describe what he felt for her. He was not blindly infatuated, mind you, but their lives were so mixed together that the thought of not having her with him made him want to curl up in a ball and cry.

And that was not counting what he felt for his son, the little boy that resembled him so much and who displayed the same innate curiosity both his father and mother had. He could only imagine what trouble the child would get into when he learned how to crawl – worse when he figured out how to walk – and perhaps even bigger issues would come to him when he learned how to talk. _Especially_ if James ended up inheriting his father's arrogance and Pepper's ability to speak her mind, nonstop.

Yup, their son was definitely screwed. But the genius would not have it any other way. He would have not wanted anyone else to start a family with other than his quirky girl and even if their prophecy that their kid was going to be weird no matter what came true, Tony could have not been prouder to have a son like him. His only actual regret would be, however, not being there to see him grow up if his Extremis issue was not resolved.

He slowly took his hand to his pants' pocket and dug it inside to take out Pepper's birthday present to him – or one of them, the one he could take with him everywhere he went. He had been shocked when S.H.I.E.L.D. had not confiscated it from him when he had been searched upon his arrival but knowing how Nick Fury worked, the inventor had come to believe that the General had let him keep his pocket watch to keep him in line. It had worked so far and he had a feeling that it would continue to work on him.

Tony pressed the side lock to pop open the watch and a smile immediately graced his face when he saw the picture of his son on the inner part of the cover. Pepper had insisted that a professional_ baby_ photographer – if there ever was such a thing – did a picture shoot for James and even though Tony had scoffed at the idea at first, he now knew that Pepper had been correct in pushing for taking these pictures. The results had been rather cute and he could not deny that if it had not been for this picture and the one hidden behind it, he would have lost his mind a long time ago.

His finger pressed the watch's lock again and this time the secret cover behind the baby picture popped open to reveal a picture of Pepper and him. This particular picture had been taken by Rhodey when the redhead and the inventor were still just friends and when the trio still attended the Tomorrow Academy. He remembered the day it had been taken and even though he had pretended to be annoyed by the impromptu shoot, he had been secretly glad that Rhodey had gone through the trouble of surprising them.

It had been the day Tony had first realized that he had a crush on the redhead, and it had happened shortly after she had so blatantly stated they had been on date the day Andros Stark had appeared. The idea that he would one day grow up and have kids and grandkids had never really crossed his mind until he had thought he would never have a chance to do so. One thought had led to another, and in the loneliness of his lab he had realized that if he had indeed been killed by Andros that day, the only regret he would have taken with him would have been never actually telling Pepper he liked her a lot.

And then the object of his affection had shown up.

_"Hey, there, Tony!" Pepper said as she walked inside the lab, ice cream cone in hand, and interrupted Tony's thoughts on his life. He gave her a quick glance and then looked away lest his blush became apparent to her. _

_ "Hey, Pep."_

"_What are you up to now?" She asked him and then looked over his shoulder at the parts on the work table. "Ooh! Are you building a new armor? Or is it my armor? You know, you still owe me my armor and you keep putting it off? Did you lose my diagram? Do you need a new one? Do you have markers? I can totally redraw it for you right now and…"_

_ "Pepper…"_

_ "You've totally lost the diagram, haven't you?" She said and then took a lick off the ice cream. "I mean, you shouldn't need it since you're a freaking genius and you probably memorized it the moment you first saw it but…"_

_ "Pepper, I've told you that… uhm…" He began as he turned around on his stool but then stopped when a more important matter appeared to him. "Hey, Pep…"_

_ "But that's still so not fair that you're doing upgrades to everything but you don't have time to build me my armor? You promised me, Tony! And one thing you don't do to friends is to break promises. I mean, honestly! How hard can it be? Are you having trouble remembering what I want? 'Cause you can tell me, alright? Friends don't have secrets. Friends share everything."_

_ "Pepper, listen."_

_ "And I think I've earned my armor, Tony. I really think I have. The bad guys are getting worse and you and Rhodey aren't going to be enough soon."_

_ "Pepper."_

_ "And I know I need practice but you never let me be out there more than five minutes! What gives?"_

_ "PEPPER!"_

_ "What?"_

_ "You have ice cream on your chin."_

_ "What?" She said and then randomly patted her chin only to realize he was right. "Oh, crap! Do you have a tissue?"_

_ "Nope," he joked and smiled. "You're gonna have to lick it."_

_ "What? I can't lick it!" She said and then rubbed off the rest of the ice cream from her chin with the back of her hand. She then groaned when her hand was now dripping the ice cream and she shoved the cone onto Tony's hand. "Here, make yourself useful and hold that for me. I'm gonna go wash off."_

_ "OK."_

_ He watched her stomp her way to the sink and a wide smile appeared on his face and after she finished washing her hands and turned around to head back to him, a cruel idea came to his mind. Seconds before she was to grab her cone from him, he pulled it to his mouth and without hesitation licked one side of the ice cream. Her eyes went side as saucers and in order to keep his momentum going, Tony made sure that every side of the cone had his germs on it before he handed it back to her. "Here, Pep."_

_ "TONY! What did you do that for? Do you know how long I had to wait in line to buy that? It's soooooo hot outside, all the ice cream places were full!"_

_ "And?" He shrugged and licked the cone again. "What's the problem? You can keep eating it."_

_ "No, I can't! You just licked it!"_

_ "So? Didn't you say friends share everything?"_

_ "Well, yeah," she hesitated. "But-but if you wanted some you could've told me and I could've gotten you a spoon or a small bowl and we could've split it up."_

_ "How is that any different than what I'm doing now?" He asked in a teasing tone. He had never actually flirted with her this much before and he was definitely enjoying her reactions to his bantering. "Besides, it's not like we haven't shared cooties before."_

_ "Wah?" She asked and gulped. "W-When?"_

_ "What do you mean when? All the time!"_

_ "All… the .. time?"_

_ "Yeah, you're always drinking from my straw at school."_

_ "Uhm… huh… I… well… that's… that's different still."_

_ "How?" He asked with a smile, stood up and closed the distance between them. "I don't see how it is. Here, I'll prove it to you. Lick it."_

_ "What? No!" She took a step back._

_ "Lick it!" He took a step closer._

_ "I said no, Tony, quit it!" Another step back._

_ "Why not? It's the same!" Another step closer._

_ "It's not the same!" She insisted but this time she did not move._

_ "Why is it not the same? What would make it the same?"_

_ "It… it… well…"_

_ "It, what?"_

_ "The same… it would only be the same if… if…"_

_ "If, what?"_

_ "If… if I… if I kissed you." She whispered and then looked down. Tony grinned but tried his best to keep his cool and when the appropriate response came to him, he uttered it without hesitation._

_ "What's stopping you?"_

Tony smiled even wider at the thought of what had happened next. Pepper had looked up at him and they had stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. They had walked closer and she had begun to blush and right as he had felt brave enough to lean down to kiss her, Rhodey had shown up. And he had startled them both. And Pepper had thrown her hands in the air and had yelped. And she had hit the ice cream cone and it had ended up hitting him square in the face.

And once everything had been said and done, Tony had ended up pulling Pepper's face to his ice cream stained one and had pressed her cheek against his to dirty her up. And at that moment, at that exact moment when he had smiled at his small victory and Pepper had smiled at the situation and their faces were still touching, Rhodey had taken the picture with his cell phone. It had been intended to become a way to make fun of them but in the end they had both forgotten that they were being watched. Pepper had helped him get cleaned up and Tony had done the same for her, and later on that day he had invited her to pick up some ice cream to make up for her loss, and to prove to him that she was not against his "cooties," they had shared an ice cream cup and the same spoon.

And it had been at that moment that Tony had begun to toy with the idea that perhaps dating his friend would not be all that bad.

_I need to find out what's wrong with me_, Tony thought with a renewed spirit and closed his pocket watch. _I need to fight back._

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry, _**| OmegaInfinity |**_, I couldn't tell you right away :(


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: **YAY! Another chappie! As always, thank you for reading/reviewing/favoring and following.

This chapter is dedicated to _**jojo32085, **_who celebrated her birthday last Thursday. I know it's late and I'm sorry but: **HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! ^_^ AND MANY MOREEEEE! **You can all thank her for the additions to the other two chapters AND this chapter :)

And since I've kept you waiting long enough, let's get on with the chapter, shall we?

* * *

**Chapter 4: June**

The penthouse at Stark Solutions was eerily quiet, its only two inhabitants and their three guests sat in the living room, all waiting on Pepper Potts to make a move. Baby James was all dressed-up and fast asleep in Pepper's arms since the ginger had been unable to let him go as of yet despite her agreement to going through with this temporary living arrangement for the next week or two. Happy, Virgil and Jarvis all stared at the new mom with concerned eyes as they all knew how troubled she was by the sudden turn of events in her life.

Ever since Tony had been taken and kept at the Helicarrier – it had already been two weeks since then – and after realizing that there was nothing Roberta or Howard could do for the young billionaire, the redhead had had her hands full with their son and the company, and it was not until recently when she was about to collapse that she had accepted Jarvis's offer of taking the baby with him to Stark International so that he, Trish, Howard and Virgil could watch over him for a few days. The company needed some major attention and the redhead needed to rest, but with the baby being her first priority, there had only been so much that she had been able to do for Stark Solutions and for herself.

Her friends, family and even Bambi had been stopping by to help her, but she had not even paid that much attention to them when they had been around. Her mind had been working on overdrive, much like Tony's always did, and she had been sloppily multitasking ever since she had returned from seeing the inventor when he had been arrested. Nick Fury had denied her or anyone else from seeing him ever since and the only reason that she knew that the blue-eyed boy was still breathing was because he had sometimes hacked her pod to send a text message to her, always telling her that he was alright, that he loved her and their son, and that they were always on his mind.

_It's just like when we were at the Maggia_ _lair_, Pepper had thought one too many times. _He should've never removed that molar implant from himself!_

Should have. Could have. Would have. It was too late to do anything about it now.

To the three men sitting in front of her, the ginger looked like nothing but an empty shell. Her eyes were irritated from lack of sleep (but she had at least already lost the weight she had gained during her pregnancy) and she seemed as lost and confused as a person in the middle of the desert. It was as if she had no idea she had guests, or where she was, or that she was holding her slumbering son in her arms. It was as if she had disconnected herself from the world when Tony had been taken by S.H.I.E.L.D. It was as if her entire world had come to a sudden stop.

Yet, the girl was everything but lost; she was silently organizing what her next step to bring Tony back would be. She – _they_, had not gone through so much pain and suffering to be separated like this in the end. They had not overcome all obstacles in life and had had a baby together for the little one to never know who his father was. James would grow up knowing his father. James would have his father by his side if the redhead had any say about it.

And she knew she did.

Pepper ran down her mental list of baby items to make sure that whatever was going to be needed was already packed inside the baby bags that Jarvis would be taking with him today. She really did not want to be away from her baby for an entire week – or more if needed, but his inheritance and his father depended on her getting her act together. She needed a full night's worth of sleep, and starting tomorrow she and Bambi would get together to ruffle some feathers with the overly intrusive SI board. She also needed to do her run through of the company and get some of Tony's inventions ready for deployment and in between all of that she needed to find a way to get Tony back.

"Sweetheart, are you ready?" Virgil asked when he realized Pepper had been silent and unmoving for nearly half an hour. The night was about to fall and the Head of Security at SI wanted to take his grandson with him to his home at the Stark International penthouse as soon as possible. It broke his heart that his only daughter was going through so much, and even with his contacts at the FBI he had not been able to do anything for his future son-in-law. Virgil felt as if this one thing, watching over his first grandson, was the only thing he could do for his daughter for now. "It's getting late."

"I know. Sorry," she replied and stood up, prompting everyone else to get up with her. "Here. Take him before he wakes up."

_Before he is awake enough to give me a disapproving look for being away from him_, she wanted to say. James was turning out to be a very aware baby, or at least more focused than any regular two-month old would be, and sometimes she wondered how much of his looks of pure alertness she was imagining and how much of it was due to being his father's son.

He had not shown any signs of being able to control computers with his mind – and Tony had already explained to her why it would never be the case, but she was certain that there was something special about their child when she watched him stare at her as if he understood what she said to him. There just had to be something there. At the very least, he would be as smart as or maybe even smarter than Tony Stark.

The transfer was easy, slow and quiet to not disturb his sleep and after a kiss on top of his head from his mother and five minutes later, James was taken away by Jarvis and Virgil when they left the building.

Pepper silently stared at the entrance door of the penthouse for a moment and after a long exhale she finally turned to stare at the remaining guest behind her, still standing in the living room: Happy Hogan. The jock had a look of distress written on his face and rightfully so. He had been visiting Pepper whenever he had a chance, but the less he was able to do for her, the more useless he felt. He had been trying his best to prevent this very situation from happening – having to give up her baby for a while – but he had not been successful in doing so and he could tell that it was eating her inside.

"You should go sleep, Happy," the redhead told him as she walked over to him and gave him a quick hug. "Tomorrow's Monday and it's a school day for you."

Happy's face fell even more with her comment. He had thought that he was being smart by taking summer classes to finish his degree faster, but now that Pepper needed him more than ever he regretted making that decision long ago. Then again, no one had accounted for Tony killing Rhona and since S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken so long to arrest Tony, the hero had thought he had gotten away with his deed.

"What about you, Pepper? Are you sure you're going to be alright?"

Pepper gave him a nod. "Yeah, I'm going to do some stuff around here and then go to bed. I have a long week ahead of me. But if I need you for something, I'll give you a call."

"You positive?"

"Yup," she assured him. "I'll be fine."

Happy silently nodded and gave her another brief hug before he made his way out of the penthouse and returned to his level of the building. Ever since he had moved in to the penthouse on Tony's request, the jock had made himself at home and he had now been assigned an entire floor for his use – right below the penthouse, in fact. Tony and Pepper appreciated Happy's help and company and unbeknownst to the man, they were already planning on hiring him on a full-time basis as soon as he graduated college. In what capacity they were not sure yet, but the young man had grown in their hearts and souls.

_If I can keep the company afloat_, _that is_, Pepper reminded herself after the front door closed and the entire penthouse went into lockdown. _I need to hold on until Tony is able to come back. I need to find a way to not lose what Tony has worked so hard to build._

"Tony," she choked back a sob she had been holding back for weeks and covered her mouth with her left hand. Even if she had cried when she had seen him in the containment cell at the Helicarrier, she had not cried ever since. She did not want to upset her baby with her tears and she did not want to incite pity from everyone else. She knew that Tony was counting on her to be strong and resourceful as he knew her to be. She also knew Tony was having a worse time than she and that there was no excuse for her to breakdown. She was at least free to go wherever she wanted to go. She at least had the baby and family and friends to support her. She at least had the chance to choose what she wanted or not wanted to do with her life.

_But sometimes we all need a good cry._

With that thought in mind and tears threatening to spill again, the redhead turned away from the front door to face the living room once more and she gasped in surprise at what she saw. She had not expected any other visitors to suddenly show up, especially not _him_, but she should have known better than to think he would stay away. She was not sure how, but he always knew when she needed help or company and she was starting to wonder if her jewelry box had anything to do with it.

She had not even heard him materialize in the room, and she knew that their security systems were prepared for any attacks except from him since they no longer considered him a threat. In fact, Pepper had never truly considered him an enemy and it had been Tony who had been the most affected by his betrayal, years ago. Nowadays, however, even if all they did was argue whenever they were in the same room, Pepper knew that their differences would never again warrant an all-out war between the two.

"I take it that you've heard what happened?" She asked and joined him in the living room where he stood. "I hope you're not here to tell me: I told you so."

"Clearly, I don't have to," he replied and she scoffed in partial anger. "At least not right now. I can save it for later."

"How much later? Later as in _never_?" She questioned and then sat down on the couch. "Never sounds like the best time."

Gene opened his mouth to give her another smart-ass retort but when he saw her eyes were filling with even more tears, he instantly changed his mind. He then sat to her left on the couch and a second after he did so she threw herself at him and began to sob. Even after all this time, he was still somewhat uncomfortable with physical contact of any kind and he was still painfully uncomfortable with being around crying women, but for the sake of his friend, he reciprocated the embrace as much as he could. Besides, he never did mind Pepper hugging him… much. She had done it so much when he had attended the Academy that he had gotten used to it and to a certain degree expected it whenever she was around.

She was yet to disappoint him.

Moments later and when she had finally stopped trembling, she slowly pulled herself away from him. He immediately took out a handkerchief from his pocket and handed it to her. She accepted it with a thankful nod and made use of it and once she gave it a good look and recognized the cloth, she smiled. "I'm glad that you liked my Christmas present."

He shrugged. "They're useful."

Pepper gave him a small smile and another nod as she understood what his nonchalant response truly was; Gene Khan's way of saying: _Thank you. I love it!_

"And it'll be more useful to you once it's clean again. I'll wash it and I'll send it back."

"No," he shook his head. "You can keep it."

The redhead chuckled. "Don't want my germs?"

"Don't want you to go through the trouble of sending it back to China. It's just a cloth. And I still have the other five it came with."

Pepper stared at the handkerchief she had gotten engraved with his name and what she had been told was the Chinese symbol for gratitude and smiled. "Maybe I'll make a trip out of it."

"Just give me a heads up if you do."

"I will," she said and sighed. Her eyes then briefly landed on the front door again, and when she felt the tears threatening to come back to her she looked back at Gene. His perpetual frown was present but the furrowed brows and scowl meant nothing to her if she stared at his eyes. Even though his rigid pose and upset face would have fooled many into thinking he was angry as hell, the window to his soul told her he was everything but mad. He was concerned for her and even though he had no clue of what to do or say, Pepper could read in his eyes that being here for her was something he truly wanted to do and she appreciated the thought.

"How are things going with you?" She patted his right knee with her left hand – which gave him a good look at her engagement ring and made his frown deepened. She then stood up and walked over to the kitchen and continued her questioning. "Are you hungry at all?"

"Everything's going fine. Same as every day. And no, I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure?" She asked. "Thirsty, maybe?"

"No. I'm fine."

"Please, Gene," she insisted. "The least I can do for you after coming all the way over here is for me to make you something to eat. What would you like?"

"Pepper, it's not necessary, really."

"I never said that it was. Just humor me, alright? What do you feel like having? I won't poison you, I promise. I'm a very good cook."

"I know," Gene said and stood up from the couch when he realized that she as going to fix him something to eat whether he wanted it or not. He joined her in the kitchen, pulled up a stool next to the bar counter and watched as she began taking out pots and pans. "Stark told me you're very good."

"Did he?" She asked with unashamed curiosity. "When?"

"Every day he was in China when he came to see me about the Maggia, years ago. He wouldn't shut up about it, especially about your pancakes."

"Oh!" Her eyebrows shot up. She was aware that after surviving her early years of cooking lessons he had actually come to like what she made for him and she was also in the know that he raved about her pancakes whenever he could, but this was the first time that she had heard from someone other than their everyday family, friends and acquaintances that Tony had been bragging about her skills in the kitchen. It was not an unpleasant surprise, but a surprise nonetheless.

"Well," she continued. "He's somewhat biased, being the fiancée and all. Why don't you try it out for yourself? That way, if I actually suck and he has just been nice to me, you'll have a good response to tell him otherwise whenever he tries to show off again."

Gene sighed loudly and rolled his eyes knowing that she was not going to let it go until he accepted her offer. He appreciated the fact, however, that she was at least trying to make it sound as if he would somehow benefit from her cooking for him rather than making him feel as if she was doing him a favor, and this alone made him relent to her wishes. She could probably use the distraction, he was sure, and the whole point of coming to see her today was to check up on her and make sure that she was alright.

"Fine," he said. "But just pancakes, OK? I can't stay for long."

"Yay!" She said and shook her fists in victory. "I won't take long, I promise."

"Alright," Gene said and he then silently watched her work, and even though she currently had the weight of the world on her shoulders, the few minutes she was spending cooking for him showed no one else but the happy girl he remembered from years ago. Time had not passed by in vain for any of them and despite her hair being longer and her body now being the one of a full-grown woman, her eyes still shone in the same fashion as the ones of the odd-acting redhead he had met long ago. The redhead that had put her personal dislike and distrust of him aside to make friends for the sake of keeping her friendship with the inventor. The redhead that had immediately afterwards trusted him with her life when he had ended up saving it. The redhead that had refused to give up on him when everyone else already had. The same girl – woman, who was now adamant to make his stay worthwhile by cooking for him even though all he really wanted was to find a way to help her out.

_Stark doesn't deserve her,_ Gene thought, his eyes following her every move around the kitchen. _She deserves better; so much better than that idiot. He'll never appreciate her like she deserves._

In the Mandarin's mind, Pepper Potts deserved someone who did not constantly put her in danger. She deserved someone who actually thought before he acted. She deserved someone who devoted every second of his life to making her happy and who knew how lucky he was to have her in his life. She deserved someone better, someone like… like…

Like, who, actually? Someone like… himself?

_Stop it, Khan. Just, stop._

He closed his eyes at the thought and inwardly groaned. He could not let himself go down that route again. He could not let himself see her like Tony Stark did. It was true that he was no better than Tony at finding danger – or at being unlucky enough to have danger find him – but he truly believed himself to be better suited to protect her. All these years he had told himself that he felt nothing more than friendship for the girl, perhaps even a deep bond and connection he had never had with anyone else in his life ever before, but even his disciplined mind could sometimes succumb to the irrational suggestions of his heart.

Just as it was trying to do right now.

"How come you haven't stopped by to meet the baby?" Pepper asked him and pulled him from his thoughts and she could tell by the swift expression of confusion that he had not been listening to her talking for the last few minutes. Gene never did speak much anyway, so she had attributed his lack of comments to his personality. It was not until now that she was staring at him that she recognized the clear signs that the Mandarin's mind had wandered off at some point.

He stared at her for a moment while he processed her question but before he could answer she placed a plate of pancakes in front of him, a glass of milk and offered him a fork. He was surprised to see that she had prepared them so quickly but when he stole a quick glance at his wristwatch he realized that he had been spacing out for nearly half an hour. He grabbed the utensil and he was somewhat relieved to see that the pancakes looked to be fully cooked and he hoped against hope that they tasted as good as they seemed. He waited to answer her question while she went around the counter and sat next to him, a plate of pancakes for herself in her hand. "You should really visit us when the baby's back. I want to make sure James meets his Uncle Gene."

The look of shock he gave her almost made her choke on the mouthful of pancakes she had just shoved down her throat and when she began laughing aloud at how his left eye was currently twitching, he could not help to grin a little himself.

"Did you seriously just call me _Uncle Gene_? Please, tell me I misheard you. Does Stark even know about this?"

"No, you didn't mishear. And yes, I did call you Uncle Gene and yes, Tony knows that I do call you that around the baby," she responded after her giggles subsidized and then spoke in between chews. "I've even showed him your picture. I wanted to name him after you but Tony didn't buy into it."

Gene smirked. "By not 'buy into it' you mean he threw a fit?"

"Probably," she shrugged. "I stopped listening to his rant after about a minute after he started it."

The grin on his face only grew wider at the possibility that even without being there he had caused some irritation to the inventor in some way, shape or form. He was not sure why, but he always found it fulfilling and fairly pleasant to make Tony spasm in exasperation. He figured it was probably due to the fact that there was a part of him that still felt betrayed by Tony failing to inform him that he was Iron Man. Or maybe it was because, although they were no longer at war with each other, the mere fact that he was the Mandarin and Tony was Iron Man meant that they would always technically be arch-enemies. Or maybe it was because it was just fun to see the inventor be taken out of his comfort zone every now and then.

Gene stared at his still untouched plate of pancakes and decided to take a chance with them and began to cut them up. "That's interesting," he said as his fork skillfully cut the pancakes into bite-sized, triangular pieces. "Maybe Uncle Gene will stop by to meet his nephew," he added with a mischievous grin while he poured syrup on the pieces he had just cut.

"Well, Uncle Gene will have to wait to do that until after I find a way to get Tony out of S.H.I.E.L.D. confinement so that James' daddy can be here to see you call the baby your nephew."

"That would be very nice of you, Pepper," Gene said with an honest smile and enjoyed every second of their conversation/plotting against the blue-eyed boy. Fiancée or no fiancée, the ginger could surely be relied upon to partake in a prank against the genius. She was not afraid of Tony getting mad at her for tricking him and she was definitely not afraid to be the one to initiate the joke. He had heard horror stories from Tony about pranks she had played on Rhodey and the inventor in the past, and he could only imagine what her cunning mind could come up with now that she had more resources available to have some clean fun with her friends. "I'll keep that in mind."

"I'm sure you will," she said with equal thrill but then frowned when she realized that he was yet to touch his meal. "Are you not going to eat? I told you they're good!"

"Oh, sorry!" He said and immediately grabbed a piece of the pancakes with his fork and put it in his mouth. He chewed the bite a couple of times and when the delicious treat practically melted in his mouth he could not hold back a moan of delight. "Pepper… these… these are…"

"The best pancakes you've ever had?" She offered with a cocky grin and he nodded in agreement.

"They are!" He said and continued to eat them even though he was not hungry at all. "They look like regular pancakes but… but they're not."

"They're more than just regular pancakes but I can't tell you how I made them. It is my secret recipe and I'm taking it with me to my grave."

"Not if I read your mind, you won't," he retorted in a smug tone of his own. "I am _the_ Mandarin, remember?"

"Oh, yes," she playfully rolled her eyes. "The strongest man in the entire galaxy. I know. I remember."

"It's good to know you haven't forgotten."

"How could I? You're as bad as Tony when it comes to bragging about what you guys do best. Then again, I also brag about what I do best myself so I guess it's something everyone does."

"Uh, Pepper," he began, the perfect response coming to mind almost instantaneously. "I don't think bragging about being able to talk non-stop is a good thing."

She narrowed her eyes at him, slapped his arm and then scoffed. "Very funny, Gene. Keep it up and I won't name our second kid after you."

"Second kid?" Gene asked, eyes wide and stared at her belly. "Are you pregnant again?"

"What? No! I'm not pregnant," she dismissed his fears with a wave of her hand. "But when I am again… and if I have another boy, I will name him after you. I don't care what Tony says."

Gene shook his head, snickered and continued to eat. "That's not going to happen, Pepper. Tony will never name one of his kids after me."

"He would. He just needs to see why it's a good thing that we do. I mean, we named James after my dad, Rhodey _and_ Howard. Why can't we name our next kid after you, right?"

The Mandarin frowned at her statement for many personal reasons, one of them being the fact that Pepper was looking forward to having more children with the inventor even after experiencing first-hand how complicated carrying one of Tony's kids would be for her. Her first and only pregnancy had been rather tiresome and hazardous to her body due to the Extremis enhancing all sorts of weird side-effects on her, and said virus had almost killed her in the process of labor and birth. He doubted that she was unaware of the possible consequences of putting her body through the same complications again, but it appeared as if she was willing to beat the odds again for her and her fiancée.

It could not be helped, he supposed, since even though he would never approve of Pepper devoting herself to the genius, the redhead would do whatever she wanted to do in the end, although Gene hoped that Tony would heed the doctor's warnings that a second pregnancy could prove deathly for the redhead. She and Gene had had this argument many times in the past in which the Mandarin had tried to make the ginger see how ridiculous it was to be involved with Tony, but if memory reconfiguration and failed relationships did nothing to separate the couple, he doubted that anything he or anyone else said would ever break them up… other than outright killing them.

_How many times can you fall in love with the same person over and over again despite trying not to?_ Gene thought, a question he had asked himself many times over when Tony and Pepper had found a way to cross their paths again. Would the memory configuration have been more efficient if he had done it to the both of them? What if he had taken away Pepper or had convinced her father to send her away from Tony Stark? Would they have found a way to meet again? Was it fate that the redhead and the inventor live together and happily ever after?

Some good questions did not have any answers at all – or at least not any answers that would be satisfactory to the Mandarin alter ego.

Gene realized that she was still waiting for him to make a comment and knowing that expressing aloud what he was currently thinking would only end in an argument, he decided to ask the next best thing that came to mind. "Your father? The baby's named after your father?"

"Yup," Pepper nodded. "My dad's first name is actually James, but he makes everyone call him by his middle name, which is Virgil, because when he went to Quantico and said his name was James Potts, the other FBI trainees made fun of him by saying his name was: _'Potts, James, Potts.'_ You know, like 'Bond, James, Bond?' Anyway, we got lucky that it's also Rhodey's first name, so we killed two birds with one stone with that. We only had to add Howard's name and TA-DA! James Howard Stark was named!"

"That's actually pretty clever," Gene admitted. "But I still don't see how you'd convince Tony of naming your next kid after me."

"I have a very good reason to do so. I haven't used it yet because I didn't want to get into a huge argument with him but next time we have a boy, Tony won't be able to say no to me."

"Why is that?" Gene asked with curiosity. "What good reason could it be?"

"Well," she began with a deep exhale. "If it weren't for you, Tony and I would've never gotten together in the end. Naming one of our kids after you would be the least we could do for you."

Gene was taken aback by her response. He was aware that the abduction of Howard Stark had led to the young billionaire attending the Tomorrow Academy where he and Pepper had met, but he had a feeling that this was not the involvement she was referring to. Or at least he _hoped_ that it was not what she was referencing. "How do you figure, Pepper?"

"How do I not?" She retorted, let go of her fork and placed it on the counter. Her hands then rested on her lap and her eyes stared at the plate before her but it was obvious that her mind was somewhere else far away from the Stark Solutions penthouse. "If it wasn't for you helping Tony find me, I… I would've died… alone… in that submarine. If it wasn't for you… he… he would've never found me on time… or at all."

Gene placed the fork on the counter and remained silent while he finished chewing the last bite of his pancakes. Once his mouth was free of obstructions and after washing down the remains with the glass of milk Pepper had poured for him, he finally spoke again. "I don't think you two getting together has anything to do with me. You know how I feel about you being with him and that has not stopped you from having his kid and getting engaged to him."

"It DOES have everything to do with me and Tony being together now. If you hadn't helped Tony, I wouldn't be here today."

"True, but your reasoning for that statement is to assume that I would've said no to helping him find you. That was never an option, Pepper. I would've helped him sooner if he hadn't waited so long to clue me in."

"You _did _have the choice to decline, Gene, and I'm glad that you didn't. And I know that Tony will see it my way, too, if… if I can ever get him back."

Sensing that the conversation was turning serious, Gene stood up from the stool. He grabbed Pepper's left hand in his right one, led her to the living room again and made her sit on the couch next to him. The same mood he had come to find her in had returned to her at the mention of Tony being away, and based on what he had learned from his sources, getting Tony liberated from S.H.I.E.L.D. was going to be everything but simple.

In fact, Gene actually believed that Tony had had coming what was happening to him, but he could also understand why the genius had done what he had done. It was actually still surprising to him that Nick Fury had not pursued _him_ for punishing Whitney in the way he had, but he figured that his Makluan rings made it practically impossible to capture, let alone incarcerate, the Mandarin by whatever means S.H.I.E.L.D. had available. Tony could also easily escape the Helicarrier whenever he pleased if he really wanted to do so but the blue-eyed boy had a family to think about – something that Gene did not have to worry about.

"What's the plan to get him out, Pepper?"

"I'm not sure yet," she shrugged. "I'm going to meet with Howard and Roberta tomorrow, and then on Wednesday I'm going to meet with Fury."

"To do what? This is no longer his call, as far as I know. This is the World Security Council calling the shots."

"True, but if I have to find dirt on the members of the WSC to get Tony out of there, I'll do just that. I know that what Tony did was wrong, but there have been worse things that others have done. Tony has saved the city – the world, several times. The Council seems to have forgotten about that."

"Or maybe they're just thinking that two wrongs don't make a right."

"If they are, then they're being hypocrites because spying, lying and killing are the ways they claim they keep 'peace' in the world."

"But they have the authority to do so. Tony doesn't because he's a vigilante, just like you and Rhodes and maybe even me, to some extent. We do whatever we want. We don't follow the rules or the law and that's something that the WSC hates about us. They can't stop us unless they have something to hold ransom from us. In my case, they have nothing. In Rhodes' case… well, he thinks before he acts, so he's fine. But you and Tony… especially Tony, you two actually have something the WSC can use to force you to do things the way they think things should be done."

Pepper scoffed. "If we did things the way the WSC thinks is best, then we would be all speaking Makluan today."

"Maybe that's true, but I think what you need to do now is not so much rely on what Tony has done in the past but what he can do in the future if given the chance."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if you present the Council with the hypothetical situation of another alien invasion or some other major world catastrophe happening, what would their action plan be?"

"I don't know," she said. "Ask us to intervene?"

"Exactly," Gene said. "But if Tony is locked up, he won't intervene. They would have to let him go or threaten to hurt you if he doesn't help, and if they go that second route…"

"Then they'll be the ones in trouble," Pepper finished his implied statement. "I mean, Nick let Hawkeye and Black Widow join their ranks even though they were criminals, and Natasha has killed her fair share of people. Why would it be any different with Tony, right? They have to give him a chance unless… unless the WSC is using this as a way to get weapons out of us."

"In which case, they're screwed. Tony won't ever give up his stance on weapons. It doesn't matter if he gets a bullet to his head for declining. He won't budge."

"And neither will I," Pepper added.

"And you shouldn't. The WSC is nothing more than a certified, international bully if you ask me. And something tells me that all they really want is to use Tony as an example to other vigilantes. If the WSC or S.H.I.E.L.D. can chain up the most rebellious vigilante there is, the other ones don't stand a chance."

"That actually makes sense," Pepper said and then could not stop the yawn that escaped her lips. The food was making her feel partially drowsy but she knew that sleep would not come easy to her despite how tired she felt. It was difficult to take care of a baby by herself at night, and going to bed only reminded her that Tony was not there with her, so a restful night was something she was yet to experience since the baby had been born. Even if the baby was not with her tonight and would not be for a few days, she had a feeling that being alone in the large home would only hinder her sleep rather than encourage it. "Sorry," she said when she yawned again. "You're not boring me, I'm just tired."

"Then you should sleep," Gene said. "It's almost nine."

"What?" She asked and looked behind her to the large glass walls that showed the city skyline. "Man, time flies when you have lots to do. Maybe I'll start running some reports on the status of projects."

"Or maybe you should sleep," he insisted. "Those reports can be run in the morning but they won't be easier to review if you don't sleep well tonight."

"I don't think I can sleep, Gene. I've got so many things in my mind and…" she yawned for a third time. "And… and I… reports… due…"

Before she could realize what was happening to her, her eyes slowly closed and her head lolled to the front. Her body then began leaning forward when she fell asleep completely, but before the move became dangerous for her, Gene stood up from the couch and caught her. He adjusted her position and easily picked her up in his arms and not a second later he began walking to the master bedroom with her in tow.

He used his rings to open up the double-doors for him so that he did not have to disturb her slumber. Once he arrived at the bed he laid her on the mattress, pulled up a folded blanket that had been by her feet and covered her body with it. He then walked to the foot of the bed and took off her shoes before finally turning off the lights in the entire penthouse, all done remotely thanks to Makluan technology. He knew that Pepper would not wake up until late in the morning thanks to his intervention, and by the time she became aware that he had made her pass out without her consent he would be back in China where he would be safe from her wrath.

_It's for your own good, Pepper_, he thought as he walked over to stand next to her resting form. _You're not going to help your son or Stark if you don't first take care of yourself._

He quietly stared at her for another moment before he leaned down and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. He then stood straight again, brushed some of her strands off her face and as he was about to whisper a compromising confession to her, a cold shiver that ran down his spine made him stop in his tracks.

He felt every pore in his skin crawl and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. A sense of dread almost completely overpowered him and for a moment he forgot that he needed to breathe in order to live. His eyes shone golden as the power of the rings heightened his senses and when the feeling of despair only increased, he turned around in place and stared everywhere around him.

Save from he and Pepper, the master bedroom was empty but he could feel heaviness in the air. He looked over his shoulder to stare at the redhead one last time before he finally exited the room and did not stop his trek until he stood in the middle of the main living area of the penthouse. The place was pitch-dark and the only lights that partially illuminated the home came from appliances, a couple of night lights and whatever city lights filtered through the glass wall that led to the large balcony. The area was so quiet he could have practically heard his heart beating in his chest even without the power of the rings.

His eyes scanned his surroundings and he waited patiently for an eternity to try to discern the source of the eerie sensation in the home, but when his search proved unsuccessful, he took in a deep breath and inwardly groaned. His Makluan rings were very useful when it came to sensing and seeing things that others could not hear or see but as of late, and as he became more in tune with the power of the rings, he had begun to discover that being able to see, feel and _hear_ every atom in the world was not as pleasant of an experience as he had initially thought it would be.

He exhaled slowly when everything finally returned to normal and even though he could sense the heaviness was gone, he was not certain that it would not return again. Whatever it had been, it had been strong and ominous and left him with a pang of guilt for having to return to China and leave Pepper alone with it. He would surely have to resort to enhancing the connection he had with the jewelry box he had given her and if he was able to sense this feeling again by channeling his presence through the box, he would have no choice but to bring it up with the redhead and the blue-eyed boy. He only hoped that he was not making a mistake by not telling them about it right now.

Gene suddenly enveloped himself in his own powers and he turned into his Mandarin form. His senses were even more heightened when he was in the suit and he knew that if he wanted to sleep better tonight, he would have to make sure that he at least did some rounds in the building to be certain that nothing else was off.

The things that he did for the redhead and for Tony would never really cease to amaze him, and had he remained in the home for the night, he would have been able to prevent the danger that befell the redhead later on.

xxxXXXxxx

She opened the door to what could be considered her office, but she knew it was nothing more than her prison. She had been glad to have been able to get out of here and get some fresh air, but she was painfully aware that those little bits of freedom never lasted for long. It always came back to returning here, to her workplace, to devote her time, energy and efforts to a cause she did not believe in. She had no other choice and she knew it, but that did not make it easier to resign herself to the turn her life had taken without her consent.

She plopped herself down in the chair and booted up her computer, and as she waited for all of the programs to start loading on the screen she heard his steps approach her from behind. She did not even bother to turn around to face him or greet him and he did not bother to pretend that he was not in a hurry to hear the news.

Aldrich Killian sat next to his stepdaughter and rapped his fingers on the work table she dared to call her personal desk. She had been rather defiant of the rules of their employer and if she did not change that attitude of hers in a heartbeat, he would be left with no option but to show her what happened to those who did not heed by the rules.

Then again, she already knew what happened to an employee when the proper channels were not taken and the chain-of-command was disregarded. She actually knew that very well herself. Perhaps all she needed was a reminder of the consequences – amicable, painful or otherwise.

"So, did they believe you? How did it go?"

"Every word," she said and stole a quick glance at her stepfather who had a satisfied smile on his face at hearing her words. "They didn't even question me that much. It was as if I had all the answers to all the questions they had ever asked themselves in their lives."

"You probably do," Aldrich said with a smug smile. He knew the inner workings of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Stark International after many years of service to them, and he knew exactly what to say or do to make either organization bend to his will – a personal advantage that he had taught his stepdaughter. This was exactly what happened when you knew very well how the biology of the human body worked and how humans reacted to certain… _catalysts_. It also unquestionably helped that no one would even look at you twice-over when you pretended to lose your keys every time you left your house. Life was nothing but a game and he had every crucial play memorized to perfection by now.

"How is the specimen doing?"

"Stable, as we suspected, but I picked up a few design flaws we need to address and soon."

"Flaws?" Aldrich questioned her, sat upright in the chair and folded his arms. "Extremis is perfect, Maya. There are no flaws."

"Agent Mallen is dead," she said and stared at him. "The impossible scenario the computer forecasted finally happened. It took much longer than anticipated but it did kill him in the end: complete system shutdown."

"That's not a flaw," he defended his work. "Agent Mallen was not a reliable specimen anyway. The way he came in contact with the virus was not the recommend procedure and he only had a dose of the prototype. His data is useless to us. We can't account for it because we didn't oversee or sanction that experiment in the first place."

"And we also had nothing to do with the way Tony became exposed to Extremis and yet here we are: analyzing his body's bonding with it. He didn't even get a full dose and our current strand is not the same as his."

"But we still have to review his case for…" he hesitated. "For _different_ reasons and you know what those reasons are. Either way, I still think Agent Mallen's an exception and not the rule."

"Data is data, Killian. And if we don't fix this issue, we're going to be in big trouble. S.H.I.E.L.D. is running all of the tests I recommended and once they're done, I'm sure Nick Fury is going to use the information I gave him to free Tony. And once Tony is out there… away from S.H.I.E.L.D. … we just don't know what is going to happen then. I don't think we want to know."

"We'll figure it out," Killian said nonchalantly, truly not afraid of the what-ifs. He was confident that he had finally perfected the formula he had been hired to create for S.H.I.E.L.D. in the name of Stark International, and as soon as he could prove that to them and his current employer, both he and Maya would be out of the woods. And if that turned out not to be the case, there was always Plan B – or at least for him there was.

"So," he continued. "Did you see her?"

"Yes, briefly. She was occupied when I showed up and Stark politely kicked me out almost immediately." Maya responded, knowing who he was referring to. "But she made it. Even with all the odds against her, she made it."

"Wouldn't expect any less. She's a fighter. If anyone could have pulled it off, it had to be her. You couldn't even get pregnant from him and she did so without much trouble. It's amazing how compatible their strands are. It was meant to be."

"That's only because Tony wanted it to happen," she replied. "You know how Extremis works when it comes to that. Though, I'm still surprised it didn't kill her."

"Yet," he said. "Not _yet_."

"Well, she looked fine to me but I didn't get to do an analysis. I still have the blood I collected from her when I sent out the crows to their apartment, but I still need a recent sample to match."

"That can wait. If everything else goes according to plan, we won't need her."

"I'd still feel more comfortable if we ran the tests on her sample. I don't want to take any chances this time around."

"And we won't." He assured her. "We just have to wait for the right time and neither of them will see it coming. They can't stop it anyway, and now that S.H.I.E.L.D. knows what's happening and are going to just let it go, our victory is all but guaranteed."

Maya scoffed bitterly and gave her stepfather a one-sided smirk. The man was truly a genius and almost no one knew about his arrogant side he kept to himself, which made him incredibly stealthy when carrying out these operations. Not even her mother had known who she had married until it had been too late for the both of them, and now Maya would live with the regret that she could have prevented her mother's demise for the rest of her life – however long or short that span would turn out to be.

"Nothing is guaranteed, Aldrich," she finally told him. "_Nothing_ is guaranteed."

xxxXXXxxx

"Stark, wake up!" Fury yelled as he walked inside Tony's cell. "Come on, Tony! Get up!"

Tony groaned and slowly opened his eyes only to see General Fury standing above his bed. In his nearly six weeks of stay on the Helicarrier, not once had the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. been responsible for waking him up in the morning. Or was it night? He was not sure. It was difficult to keep track of time when being locked up and even his handy pocket watch would take a back seat when all you did when you were awake was play guinea pig for the scientists of the international peace-keeping group.

"Dammit, Stark! Will you get up already? We need to go."

"Go?" Tony finally asked, his tone groggy from sleep and the anesthesia he had been given just hours ago. At least they had begun drugging him now when they ran the tests. At least he did not have to be awake to feel the pain they caused him. "Go, where?"

"You'll see. Get up, wash up and meet me outside in three. Don't make me come drag your ass out of here again, you hear?"

Without waiting for any response, Nick Fury took his leave and slammed the door on his way out. Tony would have rolled his eyes at him if he was not feeling so tired and if he had not wanted to go back to sleep. Yet, thirty seconds later after the General had left the room, Tony finally stood up from the bed and walked over to the sink attached to the back wall of his containment unit. He sloppily washed his face and brushed his teeth and after collecting all of his belongings he walked out of the room.

Fury gave him a quick look and decided that this was the best the inventor was going to look after weeks of testing and he made his peace with that. He had already tamed the beast that had come barging into his office just an hour ago, and the sooner this was done and over with, the quicker the General could get to pretending that he had nothing to do with what was about to come.

"Follow me," Fury ordered and Tony silently complied. It was just the General and the genius walking down the halls for a while, turning here and there on their slow march to their destination, and once Tony looked a little bit more aware of his surroundings, Nick Fury spoke up again. "You're in the clear, Tony. Whatever issue you were having with Extremis, it's gone."

It took Tony a moment to encode his words but once he did so he furrowed his brows. "Are you sure?" Tony asked, not bothering to pretend that he was not aware of what S.H.I.E.L.D. had been doing for weeks. "Are you sure it's gone?"

"We are," Fury assured him. "The tests we ran on you were more than just tests. They were treatments and they worked. Extremis has been stabilized."

"Mmhhh," the genius replied, more to himself than to the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. The more tests he had undergone, the more difficult it had been for him to keep track of what was being done to him. In fact, he really did not remember the last few days all that well and that scared him somewhat. "So, what's next? What's gonna happen to me now?"

"That depends," Fury said and then came to a full stop in front of a door.

"On what?" Tony asked and stared back and forth between the door and the General. "Depends on what?"

"On whether or not you follow your parole officer's orders," Fury retorted and began opening the door.

"Parole officer?" Tony asked, his eyes glued to the Director. "I don't… I don't understand."

"TONY!"

The call of his name was followed by a direct hit to his chest and it took him a second to realize what had just occurred. He looked down at the red mane pressed against him and when she looked up to stare at him, he gasped. "Pep-Pepper?"

Her only response to his questioning tone was to stand on her tiptoes and kiss him full-force on his lips. It had been a while since the last time he had kissed his fiancée and even though it took him a moment to regain his senses, once he finally did he returned the kiss with all the emotion he had been keeping inside for weeks.

His hands trembled as they stroked her face, her neck and then traveled down her sides to her hips. He practically dug his fingers into her flesh through her clothes and she pressed his body closer to hers by surrounding his neck with her arms. For a moment in time Tony forgot where he was, and Pepper could not care less that they had an audience clearing their throat behind them to get them to stop.

Once they broke for air they continued to hold each other in their arms, and Tony momentarily forgot how tired he was. All he could focus on was her face and her glistening eyes and all he could hear was her deep intakes of air as she recovered from the kiss. Her hands slid from his shoulders to his face, and once she began to notice the signs of the tests Nick Fury told her they had ran on him, she frowned. "I'm sorry I couldn't do this sooner, Tony," she whispered to him. "I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough. I-I tried but… but it was hard… it was so hard!"

"What are you talking about, Pep?" He asked.

"Didn't he tell you?" The redhead asked and searched his blue eyes for a response. "The WSC has released you. You're coming home."

"What?" He asked aloud, afraid that his ears were failing him and he was hearing what he wanted to hear. "What did you say?"

"I'm here for you, Tony. I'm taking you home with me, right now."

"Home? Right now?" His head snapped up to stare at Fury, who was standing out in the hall, and who gave him a curt nod of reassurance to validate Pepper's words. He then stared to his right and he finally became aware that also in the room with them stood Howard Stark and James Rhodes, both of whom were smiling. He stared back at his redhead and blinked a few times, and when she smiled at him and hugged him again, Tony exhaled in relief and closed his eyes.

He hugged her even tighter and with such intensity he partly shook, and even though it hurt her with the effort a little bit, she did not protest. She was not about to complain about Tony holding her after weeks of not being able to see him at all and most especially after everything he had been put through while staying on the Helicarrier. If he wanted to crush her bones to dust to show her how much he had missed her, then she would gladly let him do so.

"Let's get out of here," she told him when he finally let her go. "Let's leave now before they change their mind."

"OK," Tony agreed and kissed her forehead. "OK, let's go."

"Don't forget to let him know what the terms of the agreement are, Miss Potts," Fury reminded her. "He has to follow them."

"I know," Pepper said. "And he will. You'll see."

"What terms?" Tony asked, slightly afraid of what his redhead had been forced to do to set him free. "Pepper, what terms?"

"Don't worry about it. We'll talk about them later, OK?" She told him and ran her fingers through his hair. "Trust me, baby. It'll be alright."

"OK," he said with hesitation but did not further push the matter. There were only a few things Pepper would not do no matter what, and he hoped that she had not been forced to do anything worse than them. "Alright," he finally said and kissed her hands.

"The Quinjet you requested is waiting for you, Potts," Fury said. "Don't fuck up this one, OK?"

Pepper scoffed. "You get into one little accident with a Quinjet and suddenly you're a bad pilot."

"You split it in _half_," Fury reminded her of the fate of the Quinjet that she had borrowed a long time ago to go visit Gene to convince him of releasing Whitney from her mental prison. "That's hardly a little accident."

"You split a Quinjet in two?" Tony asked, shocked that this was the first time he had ever heard of this issue. "What the hell happened?"

"A tree," she said and looked away from his piercing eyes. "Appeared out of nowhere… in my flying path…"

"Were these _giant _trees?" Rhodey asked, also confused by how the redhead had hit a tree, especially now that he had but a year to finish his training at the Air Force Academy and had begun piloting jets himself. "As in: related to the beanstalk in the kids' fairytale story giant trees?"

"Drop it, Rhodes," Pepper spat in her best Gene Khan impression. "It could've happen to anyone."

"No, Pepper," Rhodey said with a shake of the head. "It could only happen to you."

"Says the guy who –"

"Could we talk about this later?" Howard interjected as he and Rhodey began walking over to where the couple stood by the only door in the room. "I'd like to get Tony out of here as soon as possible."

"Oh, yeah," Pepper said and flinched at her own sidetracking. "Yes, let's go."

Pepper let go of her fiancée so that he could receive hugs from his father and best friend and she took the opportunity to walk to the retreating General Fury to stand in his way. Fury narrowed his eyes at her, silently demanding that she stepped aside but she stood her ground. And if it had not been for the fact that he had an act to keep, he would have told her how great of a mistake she had just made by agreeing to the WSC terms to liberate the inventor from his seclusion at S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Anything else you might need, Potts? I think I've kept my end of the bargain, just don't you forget to keep yours."

"I won't." She said with a sad face as she thought about what she had done; what she had traded for Tony's freedom. What she had taken upon herself to give up for him. "I just wanted to make sure that you aren't going to change your mind."

"I won't," he said. "You worry about doing what you agreed to do, and I'll worry about hopefully not having to arrest your fiancée again."

"You _don't_ have to worry about it, Fury," she began after she made sure that Tony was still distracted by Howard and Rhodey and that none of them were paying attention to hers and Fury's conversation. "Iron Man," Pepper continued after a pause. "Iron Man will be no more."

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry about the confusion with the updates to the other chapters. If you haven't done so as of 3/21/14, please go back and re-read Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 (the last scenes in them after the ^ xxxXXXxxx ^ symbol). I had to go back and add a few scenes to them so that I can keep my word of this story being Pepperony without any major issues for a while and to make sure that some very important plot lines were developed. I don't know when the next update will come BUT I can guarantee that for a little while you're going to have some fun watching the little family have some time to themselves. BTW: If you would like to leave a review but FFNET says you can't, try to leave a guest one :)


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Tissue ALERT! You will need tissues. Go get them. Hurry! Hurry!

**Guest Review Responses**

**SilverPedals1402:WHAT!? What does Pepper mean by "Iron Man will be no more"!? WHAT DOES SHE MEAN? Okay, maybe I have the idea...but why? Why do you torture me so much? T_T Great chapter as always! I loved the new scenes by the way! I CANNOT wait for the next chapter! UPDATE soon please! **– DUN DUN DUN! What does she mean, indeed? You'll find out here… and so will Tony :D

**Firework471:AAAAAAAAA estoy mega confundida, ahora Gene quiere a Pepper, confesión? Oh my... Y luego agh lo sabía, ésa Maya es un demonio, sí, es el demonio del que habla Tony, todos los creamos, y luego, y luego! Ya no sé ni que onda con Tony y extremis :-S y el trato que hizo Pepper, AAA Miss Starfire yo no sé cómo sigo viva aquí leyéndolas. Y Maya envió a los cuervos :( Pero definitivamente el final dónde se encuentran fue muy Pepperony :-) **– I'm a double-shipper and maybe one day I'll write a pure Gepper story, even if just a one shot. BUT, this story is just Pepperony. That doesn't mean I can't have my fun with a little bit one-sided Gepper, though ^_^

**Elinorwrites:Omg?! Iron man, Iron man no more?! Are you f*** kidding meeeee?! I wasn't expecting this, geez! Loved the chapter though, this is getting interesting. And omg, I almost died for the Gepper feelings I had in that little (but enough) scene. :) **– HAHAHAHAHAHA! Nope, I'm not fucking kidding you XDDDD But, hey, things happen and change, right… It's me… I can pull a deus ex machina at any time :P

**jojo32085:All i can say is THANK YOU I love it...well worth the wait. :-) **– YAY! I'm happy you did! And I think this chapter will also be worth the wait.

**Guest: OMG jojo32085! My birthday was last Thursday as well! High five! Miss Starfire, what do you mean by "iron man will be no more"?! Noooo... Update soon please! **– Woot! Woot! Happy Birthday to you, too! This one is for you \(^.^)/

**Guest: hi,OMG,this is becoming too much interesting!is extremis killing tony?i knew maya was up to nothing gud!i officially hate her! i can feel a big storm coming which will surely shake the life of these two! AMAZING chapters as always,i can't wait,suspense is killing me!ok what about as for my birthday gift which was on last Monday, you try to update it soon as possible:-)UPDATE soon! **– You hate Maya now? Hehehe… hehe… I sense a riot soon… when she does… something… later on… cough… I've said too much. How about this update for your B-day? Quick enough, yah? ;)

* * *

**Chapter 5: July**

Even if Nick Fury had warned her about the state of her fiancée, it was one thing to hear about it and another to see it; just as it had been extremely different to _hear_ that Tony had killed Rhona and to actually _watch_ him do it without remorse. The inventor had been back home for only three days but the ginger had expected him to simply bounce right back to his normal self. Unfortunately, that was yet to be the case.

His behavior was troubling her even though he was not acting up or displaying any signs of aggression. In fact, ever since he had arrived home with her he had spent most of the time resting, which would have not otherwise raised any warning signs in her after everything he had been through had he not been resting wherever she or the baby or both were at the time; very much so as it was the case at the moment in the early morning and had Pepper smiling wide.

The first day he had come home, straight from the Helicarrier, the baby had not been at the penthouse and had actually been under the care of Roberta Rhodes in her home. For a brief instant Tony had partially panicked when he had walked in and he had not seen his son anywhere in their home, and after Pepper had assured him that the baby was alright and she had communicated his whereabouts to the genius, Tony had finally calmed down.

That night, the inventor had not let go of Pepper at all, and even though there had been no deep intimacy between them, she had spent the night held tightly in his arms. Every now and then throughout the night he had woken up a few times, confused of his current location, but once Pepper had reminded him that he was back home and that everything was alright, he had calmed down and had gone back to sleep after kissing her goodnight for the nth time.

The next morning – yesterday, in fact – he had followed Pepper around the penthouse as she had gotten ready to work from home. Even though it sounded horrible for her to compare him to a lost puppy, that was exactly how he had behaved. He had not spoken much unless spoken to, and he had not complained about anything at all as long as she was around. A few times when she had stood up from the couch to go to the bathroom, the inventor had immediately stood up with her and had tried following her. When she had asked him what he was doing and he had retorted with a question of his own regarding her destination, she had realized that he was afraid to be alone.

Afraid to be alone in his own home. Afraid to be left behind. Afraid to not have his little family around.

When Roberta and Rhodey had brought back the baby later on that afternoon, Pepper had been glad to see a little bit of her boy genius' regular self finally come out when he had held James in his arms. He had sat on the couch for hours while she had worked nearby or had fixed dinner for the three of them. He had sometimes cradled the baby in his arms and sometimes had sat him upright on his lap, and he had spoken to him for a while as if James was an adult and not a three-month old child. Pepper had watched their interactions with interest, and she could have sworn that James had understood, if not everything, most of what Tony had been telling him by the way his eyes had followed Tony's face and hand gestures as he spoke.

He had talked to his son about where he had been and had told him that he had missed him and that he was sorry for being away for so long. He had even warned him about the consequences of not being '_good to [his] mommy while daddy was not around_,' which had almost brought Pepper to tears. Tony had also read a few children's books to his little boy and once the time to sleep had come, the inventor had insisted that the crib be brought out of the nursery and placed in their bedroom, even if just for a few days.

Despite Pepper pointing out that this could end up confusing James regarding the routine he had been learning to follow at his young age, the redhead had not been able to say no to Tony's pained look and the crib now lay next to his side of the bed in their bedroom. The couple of times last night that James had woken up to be fed or to have a diaper change had been handled entirely by Tony himself, no questions asked. Thankfully for the ginger, he had at least followed her recommendations to do either activity in the dark so as not to encourage the baby to remain awake when it was nighttime.

These little steps to recovery and normalcy had brought them to the third day of Tony returning home, in which Pepper had woken up just minutes ago only to find that the crib and her bed were both empty, and when she had walked into the living room seconds ago to search for her boys, she had been graced by a wonderful sight that practically melted her heart.

She tiptoed back into the master bedroom to grab her pod and quickly returned to the living room to capture for eternity the scene unfolding before her. She had almost completely reconstructed her baby scrapbook she had nearly lost when their apartment had been attacked by the crows, and she had now even added more pages to include any other baby-related activities that she wanted to preserve; and this very moment was one of those she definitely wanted to remember for years to come.

Tony Stark was asleep face-up on his _man-of-the-house_ recliner, and on his stomach and chest laid an also very much asleep James Stark. The recliner was pushed back so that he was not completely sat upright but also not absolutely lying flat; it was the perfect angle for the two boys to find it easy to lull themselves to sleep. Pepper was not even sure when Tony had left the room, but she was happy to see that he had at least not gone too far. She was yet to tell him about her deal with the WSC and she had been putting off the conversation until he began displaying signs that he was back to his normal self. She wanted him to be fully aware and conscious when she relayed to him that his freedom from S.H.I.E.L.D. had come with the cost of no longer being able to play superhero and that he had to give up being Iron Man.

Forever.

After shaking away the feeling of anxiety that came to her at thinking of having this uncomfortable conversation with him, she took a handful of pictures from several angles and when she was satisfied with the images she returned the pod to the room. Once inside the bedroom she decided not to bother the inventor and to let the duo sleep-in since Tony really had nowhere to go for now, but she absolutely did.

She knew that it was going to be difficult for him after how much he had been trying to keep her and the baby close by, but the redhead needed to actually _leave _the penthouse today to go up and down the building to find out the status of many of the unfinished projects she had been overseeing while her fiancée had been away. Tomorrow was Independence Day and as such the company would be closed, so today was her only opportunity to catch up with her employees before the three-day weekend arrived.

She walked inside the bathroom and after brushing her teeth and letting the water run in the shower until the hot water started, she then undressed and jumped inside the stall. She had wanted to take a bath rather than a shower to kick-start her long day, but she knew that she did not have enough time to prepare the tub for it. It was a relief that the tub and shower were separate and the arrangement was very handy when it came to bathing James, but that also meant that in order to use the tub she had to make a lot more noise than she was willing to make while Tony and the baby were still asleep.

_Maybe when I come back I can take a bath. If the baby is asleep… and if Tony is not still spacing out… and if I'm not too tired… and if we don't have guests._

She sighed.

Knowing that she had many things to do before she even started her project check-up rounds, she wasted no time in beginning to clean herself up and as she was about to pour shower gel on the sponge, the sudden opening of the stall door made her jump in surprise.

"Tony?" She said with a confused frown, sponge and bottle of gel still in hand. "I thought you were asleep."

"I was," he replied and casually walked inside the shower, closed the door behind him and faced her, and it was not until then that Pepper realized he had no clothes on. "But I'm not anymore."

"Oh," she said and bit her bottom lip, suddenly feeling extremely self-conscious for an unknown reason. "W-Well, I… I, uhm…" She swallowed hard and exhaled nervously. "I-I have to go in to the office today. Will you be OK if I left you here with… with…"

"Howie?" He offered.

"Yeah. I, uh, I really have to show up for work today."

"Can I come with?" He asked, took the sponge and bottle from her hands and placed them back in the rack. "I'd like to know what's going on around here; we share the responsibility, after all. Maybe I can help out. You've been doing this alone for too long."

"Uhm," she began and shook her head to clear her thoughts. "You don't have to, Tony. You need to rest and someone needs to watch over Jimmy."

"Why can't we bring him with us?"

_Because he's a baby_, she wanted to reply but held back when she remembered that Tony was not all there, yet. Instead of making her smart-ass retort she tried reaching for her sponge and bottle of shower gel, but he stopped her from doing so. She furrowed her brows at him when he held her hands in his, but his intentions became clear to her when he threw her arms over his shoulders, placed his hands on her waist and pulled her in for a slow, long deep kiss.

His hands slid down to her hips and then found their way up. His fingernails tenderly scratched her skin on her waist and her sides. They then curved to her back until they reached her shoulders and then made the trip back down to her hips again. The move made her pores itch for more and as if he had read her mind, he gave her what she unconsciously wanted.

"Tony," she said between kisses when he began pushing her back against the wall. "The baby… where… is he…"

"Asleep," he told her and then lifted her from the floor in a swift move, never once needing to open his eyes. He adjusted their position so that he was holding most of her weight in his hands and on his hips and finally opened his eyes to stare at her. "I put him back in his crib. He'll be fine for the next half-hour, at least."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," he whispered to her and then pressed his forehead against hers. "I'm sure, Pep. He's already gotten a lot of my attention and yours. And I think it's time _we_ spend some time alone, together. _We_ need some time for ourselves, too. We've been apart for too long. And I'm not as helpless as he may be, but I still need you, too, Pepper."

"Yes, we do need time for ourselves," she agreed. "And I've missed you, too, so much, Tony. But right now is probably not the… not the… the best… the… best… ah…" Whatever argument she was going to present to him was immediately forgotten with his advances. This, what they were currently doing, was not new to her or him – they _did_ have a kid together, but for some reason it felt different for her.

His hands were being slow but always in motion and tender yet demanding. It was as if he was both working under pressure and taking his time; it was difficult for her to explain or even understand. His lips could not get enough of hers, and even if he was acting as if he had every move already mapped out, he was still stopping their kisses long enough to check up with her.

He had always been conscious of her reactions to what he did and did not do, but at the moment he was being especially watchful of what not only her voice said but what her body wanted. It had been a long time – way before James had been born – that they had been like this and knowing that with an infant these opportunities were scarce, he wanted to take advantage of the chance.

"I'm sorry for leaving you," he whispered in her ear after biting her lobe. "I'm sorry for not being here with you all that time. It will never happen again, Pepper. Never again."

She bit down a moan and clenched her eyes shut when he continued with the act, and she could not understand how the heck he was able to have a conversation in the middle of it or how he even expected her to pay attention to anything other than how he was making her feel at the moment. Then again, maybe he was not expecting an actual verbal response from her. Maybe he just wanted to voice his thoughts and make sure she knew how he felt about the entire S.H.I.E.L.D. ordeal.

"You're so beautiful," he told her, pinned her arms above her head and against the wall with his left hand and while his right hand still held onto her thigh and her legs surrounded his waist, he then trailed kisses down her neck. "I love you so much."

"I," she breathed hard. "I… love-ve you… t-too."

Her next words went to the back of her mind when she nearly blacked out and had he not been holding tightly onto her she would have hit the floor hard. He guided her arms to rest on his shoulders again and he supported most of her weight as they both calmed down and once she opened her eyes again and stared at him, he gave her a small smile.

"Marry me, Pepper."

She swallowed hard, took in a deep breath and licked her lips before she replied. "I already am, Tony. You've already asked me that. Did you forget?"

"No, I didn't forget." He shook his head lightly and gave her a quick peck. "I know I already did. I meant for us to get married _now_. This weekend."

"What?" Her eyes went wide. "This… _this_ weekend?"

"Yes, why not?" He reasoned. "What's stopping us? We both want to, right?"

"Yes, but, but… my classes, you said… you said…"

"I know what I said; what we planned, but…" he stared to his side, sighed and then stared at her eyes again. "I also said I'd never leave you and Howie alone and I did. And I also said that I'd never pursue you again so that you could stay safe but I couldn't help myself. And I had promised you I'd never let anything hurt you and you fell from a five-story building. I don't want this to be another broken promise, Pepper. I want to keep this promise. I want you to be my wife."

Pepper stared at him, still wide-eyed and in obvious shock, and the inventor took this lack of positive response as hesitation on her part rather than pure surprise. She had not expected him to waltz right in to the shower, let alone make love to her on the spot, and then hearing him tell her that he wanted to become an honest man over the weekend was just too much to process in a minute. She was _with_ Tony Stark but she was _not _Tony Stark. Her brain did not work as fast as her lips did.

"I know about Iron Man," he finally blurted out when she remained silent. "I know about the deal you made with S.H.I.E.L.D."

Pepper gasped, visibly paled and tried to pull away from him but he kept her from doing so. She felt tears come to her eyes and her lips began to tremble and as she waited for the genius to reproach her for what she had done, she realized that his grip on her was still a protective one rather than an overpowering or an angry one.

"How…" She gulped. "How did you find out?"

"How else? I tried to access the suit and I couldn't. Then I tried logging in to the Makluan Temple's servers and I was blocked. I hacked into them – and it took me a while," he told her with a proud smile, happy that his ginger was becoming as proficient as he when it came to computers. "And I saw the protocols you removed and I read the logs."

Her chin quivered even more and she sniffled, and as she was about to confirm his suspicions and try to justify her actions to him, he spoke instead.

"I don't care about it, Pepper," he began. "I thought I would, but I don't. You did what you had to do and I'm fine with it. Iron Man… Iron Man was a big part of my life… it led me to you… it got me my father back… it helped me make a lot of friends…" He sighed. "But it also made me a lot of enemies and gave me lots of grief. I don't want any more grief. All I want is to be happy with you and Howie and everyone else I care about."

She searched his eyes for the smallest hint of regret but she found none. He was still smiling and his eyes still sparkled, and he was yet to let her go. She blinked away her tears and inhaled deeply and once she got a hold of her voice again she finally told him what she had wanted to tell him ever since she had signed the agreement with S.H.I.E.L.D.

"I'm sorry, Tony. I know what this means for you but… but I had no other way. I… I wanted you back and… and I know I should've asked you first, but… but I didn't want you to say no to it. I didn't want you to stay in there for the rest of your life. It was selfish of me but… but that's the truth. I wanted you back with us."

"Well," he said and finally put her down, realizing that her legs were probably becoming uncomfortable by now. "I've never been so glad that you acted selfish. It's… it's going to be hard, getting used to just being me… not being Iron Man, anymore, but… but I'll be fine. I can survive not being your hero anymore."

Pepper snickered lightly, feeling relief that he was not making a big deal out of the S.H.I.E.L.D. agreement and said a silent prayer for that. She then held his face in her hands, briefly pressed her lips onto his and then stared at his blue eyes. "You've always been my hero, Tony. Even before I knew you were Iron Man. Nothing's ever going to change that."

He smiled. "And you'll marry me this weekend?"

"And I'll marry you this weekend," she replied with a wide smile.

"And we'll shower together right now?"

"And we'll shower together right now."

"And you'll take me and Howie to work today?"

"Tony…"

"What?" He shrugged. "I heard it's 'Bring your baby and your fiancée to work' day."

"It's not."

"Well, I'm the boss, so I say it is."

The redhead rolled her eyes and was about to order that he and the baby stay at the penthouse but when she realized that this was the old Tony talking to her and not the depressed one she had brought back with her from the Helicarrier, she could not force herself to decline.

"Fine," she sighed. "But we better hurry up because we have lots to do and Jimmy's gonna be awake in no time to eat."

"Alright!" He said. He then guided her to the shower stream, grabbed her shower gel, poured it all over their bodies and then smiled when she gasped.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"Saving time," he told her before he began kissing her while he used his hands to lather and help rinse her body which, after groaning at his silly reasoning, Pepper began doing so to his body as well.

_A long day_, she thought with bitterness despite how full of life she felt at the moment. _It IS going to be a long day, after all_.

But with Tony Stark and her baby by her side, a long day did not necessarily have to be a bad thing.

xxxXXXxxx

The odds and time were against them, especially on a holiday weekend, but when you were one of the richest men in the world and you were about to marry one of the richest women on the planet, there were very few things you could not get accomplished or done for you on such short notice. In fact, the most difficult task of the entire impromptu, forty-eight hour wedding ceremony arrangement had been finding the dress and the tailor, who had been sizably rewarded for making sure the work was completed in twenty-four hours and on a holiday.

Notifying friends and family had been quick and painless and although the parental units had been doubtful that a wedding could take place in a heartbeat, they had been supportive as they had always been. A list of guests had been drafted the same night after Tony and Pepper had returned to the penthouse after finding the status of their company projects, and thanks to Jarvis staying at their home, the redhead and her boy genius had been able to oversee and sometimes even led their efforts to make sure they would be able to get married on Sunday afternoon.

The location Tony had suggested for their wedding and honeymoon had been a surprise to his fiancée, mostly due to the fact that it was not even on the mainland of the States. The venue and the five-star beach resort had been thrilled to host the Stark-Potts wedding even if they had been given nothing but two days to make all the required arrangements, but since the establishment could handle the accommodations for the engaged couple, the lodging for the guests, transportation and the entire ceremony arrangements and the afterwards reception, that had definitely helped speed along the process that would have otherwise been rather tedious and time-consuming.

Pepper and Tony had spent Thursday night and all day Friday working together on the details that could be worked in the presence of the other. The only time Tony had been kicked out of his own home had been when the tailor had shown up to work on the alterations for Pepper's dress, and even during that time the inventor had been reluctant to waste time and had worked on wedding arrangements of his own. Rhodey had pouted at the fact that he would not get to host a bachelor party for his friend, but the billionaire had promised him that they could organize something AFTER he returned from his honeymoon. That had partially cheered him up.

The guest list was not long for a standard wedding, but most of the invitees had been able to RSVP on time and about half of them had been flown to the Caribbean island via Stark jets. The other half had decided to arrive later, perhaps only for the reception since the guest count for the actual wedding had been narrowed down to only close friends and family.

Arranging the ceremony procession had been rather awkward but in the end they had made it work. Their families were so non-traditional that it had taken a little bit of compromising on everyone's part so that everybody felt that they had enough participation in the wedding. Virgil had obviously been chosen to walk Pepper down the aisle, and in the absence of Maria Stark, Roberta Rhodes had been chosen to walk Tony. Since Howard would be left by himself, Trish would walk with him, and since Loretta was left by herself, Happy would walk with her. And since Pepper had not chosen a Maid of Honor, Rhodey would walk his Best Man path in the company of Diane Tincher.

Throughout the ceremony, Jarvis would be in charge of James – who also had been tailored a small tuxedo to wear to the wedding, and Bambi would push the stroller when the baby was "walked" down the aisle. After the reception and while his parents were on their honeymoon, baby James would spend the week with his grandparents at Stark International, who would undoubtedly end up spoiling him the entire time he was with them.

Other guests included Gene Khan, Happy's family, Scott Summers, Jean Grey, the entire SI board, Maria Hill, Nick Fury, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Dr. Ross and Nurse Owens and other business partners of SI and Stark Solutions. David Rhodes had been unable to attend due to still being on his last year of active duty, but the Rhodes family expected the man to permanently come back home by the end of the year. King T'Challa had been invited as well, but had been forced to decline, unable to leave on such short notice due to matters of state; one of the downsides of being the leader of a nation.

Shining in her absence from the guest list was Maya Hansen, who in the end had been marked as a no-go due to the awkward situation it could pose to the engagement. They doubted that the brunette would actually do anything to prevent the wedding from taking place, but they could imagine that being present at the wedding of her ex-fiancée would perhaps leave her vulnerable to gossip. The media would sooner or later get a whiff of the quick wedding and they already had enough to worry about dreading what the press would say the reason for their swift wedding would be.

_They're probably gonna say Pepper's pregnant again_, Tony thought with sadness while alone in his and Pepper's hotel suite as he waited for Rhodey to come get him when it was time to leave for the ceremony. The idea of having another child so soon was not attractive to him simply because they already had their hands full with only one baby, but the idea of never being able to have any more kids with Pepper did pain him a bit; perhaps as agonizingly so as the conversation of said topic had been.

It had taken place the night before, during the wedding rehearsal party. Once the rehearsal had ended and everyone had split up to drink and chat the night away, Tony had taken Pepper away from the crowd and to the beach. They had walked barefoot, hand-in-hand in mostly silence and had shared laughs, hugs and kisses every now and then; words between them had seemed unnecessary for a while. After a long walk and once they had been far away from where the party had been taking place, they had then sat on the soft sand, their eyes watching the darkened skies and sea, and after a moment of utter peace and quiet, Tony had finally spoken up.

_"I talked to Gene," Tony said, his eyes still staring in front of him but also stealing glances at his fiancée who laid on her right side on the sand and had her head lying on his upper left leg. He held her left hand in his right and surrounded her waist with them, and he absentmindedly played with her fingers. He sat with his right leg bent and his left leg stretched out, which forced him to support his weight with his left arm behind him._

"_He told me about your plans to name our next son after him."_

_ Pepper snickered. "And you're gonna tell me that we're not?"_

_ "Yes," he said without missing a beat. "I AM going to tell you that we're not."_

_ Pepper rolled her eyes but felt no worry about his apprehension. She was ready to present her argument that would surely convince him otherwise but the inventor beat her to the punch._

_ "Your intentions are sweet, Pep, warranted even, and if we had the chance, I'd give up fighting you about naming our next kiddo after him if that made you happy. But," he exhaled. "But the truth is that we can't have any more kids, Pepper. Howie is all we're going to have."_

_ That response she had not expected at all._

_ "What do you mean? Don't you want any more kids?"_

_ "I do," he admitted. "But not if it costs me your life. You know what the doctors said, Pepper. Another kid from me can kill you."_

_ The redhead scoffed. "Tony, you're taking the word of the same doctors that gave me the wrong due date. They're not even sure how Extremis would behave in me during a second pregnancy or even a third. They're just drawing at straws and playing it safe so we don't sue them."_

_ "They may be, but I'm not." He replied. "Something was affecting me, something related to Extremis and if it's giving ME trouble when I've been living with it for years, I cannot image what it can do to you. I can't put you at risk again, Pepper. It just… it just can't happen again."_

_ Pepper swallowed hard and repeated his words in her mind. She felt his grip on her hand tightened and she knew he was trying to show her some support. She was aware that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been treating Tony for whatever Extremis was doing to him but she had never imagined that the experience would affect him so much that he would completely reject the possibility of having more children together._

_ "It's not that I don't love you, Pep," he said in a low voice. "It's that I do."_

_ "I know," she whispered. "I don't doubt you. I just… I just wish that we'd discussed this before. I mean, clearly you've made up your mind already, but you telling me this the night before the wedding is kinda mean."_

_ "Sorry," he said and meant it. "But there hasn't been much of a chance for us to talk since finding out Howie was my kid and I figured the least I could do was telling you before we got married. I," he sighed. "This doesn't change anything for me. I still love you and I still want to spend the rest of my life with you. And if I knew that Extremis wouldn't try to kill you again, I wouldn't mind giving Howie a brother or a sister… or both…"_

_ The ginger remained silent, stewing in her thoughts. She knew the risks of getting pregnant by Tony again, and even if other options existed to having more children such as obtaining a sperm donor or even adopting, the truth was that she could not force the inventor to go through with them just because she wanted more kids with him. In the end, if Tony ever brought it up later when the urge to have more children finally hit him as hard as it was hitting her, they would perhaps explore other options then._

_ "OK," she finally said. "Jimmy is all we'll have."_

_ "I'm sorry, Pepper. I really am."_

_ "I know you are. I am, too. But you're right. I don't want to leave Jimmy without a mommy."_

_ "Or his daddy without his wife."_

_ "Or that," she conceded. "But, before we abandon this conversation forever and ever, can I ask you one more thing?"_

_ "Sure."_

_ "Why do you insist on calling him Howie and not Jimmy? Do you not like the name: James?"_

_ "I do," he began. "But, but…" He groaned. "Look, it's-it's stupid and you'll probably think I need to grow up, but when I hear 'Jimmy,' I think of Two-Tone and it makes me mad."_

_Pepper furrowed her brows. "Two-Tone? The guy who was your boss when we went undercover for the Maggia mission?"_

_ "Yup. He used to call me all sorts of nicknames, but the way he would say Jimmy… it just pissed me off. I know this is not the same, and that this Jimmy is my son, but I can't help it. I really wanted to kill that man, especially when he… when he said… when he implied that he would… to you… and…"_

_ Pepper turned to face up and used her free hand to cover his lips. He did not need to further explain himself; she had understood what he was trying to say. The Maggia ordeal had scarred him more than her even though she had been the one who had fallen from the roof, and it made her heart cringe that the nightmares of that time still haunted him somehow._

_ "Does it bother you that I call him that?"_

_ "No. It's just me saying it, for some reason. Like I said, it's weird and stupid but that's what it is."_

_ "I love weird and stupid," she said with a smile. "That's why I'm marrying you."_

_ "Likewise," he said with a smile of his own. "That, and you're also the only person who'd ever stand me and my big ego."_

_ "Likewise," she said. "Minus the ego part," she added and then pushed herself up to kiss him._

The memory brought a smile to Tony's face and he threw himself on his back on the mattress. His legs dangled from the foot of the bed, his feet were planted on the floor, and his arms were stretched out to either side of his body. He could almost hear Pepper's voice telling him that he was going to wrinkle his tuxedo but he was getting tired of waiting for the wedding to start. He was going to be standing for several minutes while the entire ceremony took place, so he figured that it was best if he rested his back while he could in spite of what the position would do to his immaculate attire.

The balcony doors to their honeymoon suite were wide open and the cool breeze that came inside caressed his skin. He had been staying here by himself since their arrival while Pepper had been staying with Roberta in a separate room on the other side of the hotel, and the inventor could not wait to have Pepper in the same bed with him. It was not even a sexual need that he felt; it was just that he hated not having her near him at all times. Even if all they did was sleep the night away, the fact that he could reach out to his side and feel her near was all he needed sometimes to feel as if everything was alright with the world.

He was still trying to process how it had all progressed for them. From the first time they had shared a conversation on the roof of the Tomorrow Academy to this very moment when he was minutes away from becoming a married man. Every step they had taken since then had led them here, to this instant; it had led them to the culmination of their young and single lives. The journey had not been easy at all but in his eyes it had been worth it. Yes, they were not the perfect picture of a traditional family or a traditional relationship, but in the end what truly mattered to him was that they were alive, well and actually happy for the first time.

_If someone had told me… if someone had said I'd fall in love with her_… he snickered at the thought. It was not as if the idea of falling for his ginger was ridiculous to him, but it was still a shock to him that they had made it this far. Not even a year ago, they were still separated. Not even a year ago, they had been engaged to someone else… or at least he had still been. Not even a year ago, they were still two people living separate, different lives. Today, they were two people about to get married after years of growing pains. Today, they were the parents of a son that had almost never been if he had not searched for her when he was supposed to be marrying the other girl.

Today, they would exchange vows and say "I do," in the one place the redhead had always dream of visiting, if at least once.

_Her eyes denoted her deep concentration as she carefully worked each group of hairs. She repeatedly rinsed a spot until the water came out clear and she then moved on to the next spot. She continued to adjust her position above him as she worked her way around his head and before she gave him one final rinse, she chuckled and held his hair between her fingers. "You need a haircut, Mr. Stark."_

_ "And a shave," he said and wrinkled his nose when some his overgrown beard tickled his upper lip. "Why is James so hairy?"_

_ "Why is Claire getting kidnapped?" She retorted without missing a beat and he flinched._

_ "Point taken," he responded and she giggled at her win._

_ "In fact, it'd be nice if we __**don't**__ make the month of May into __**Kidnap **__**Pepper Month**__."_

_ "What?"_

_ "Well, around this time last year, Whitney took me on that…__**excursion**__ to the South Pole. And now the Maggia's going to take me somewhere else. How about next year someone just kidnaps me to the Bahamas, with my permission?"_

_ "I can do that for you," he said with a small smile, his tone somewhere between amused and sad and he then frowned and closed his eyes. "Pepper, you know that if I could've done anything different…"_

_ She briefly covered his mouth with her left hand to keep him from talking, prompting him to open one eye to stare at her and she gave him an apologetic smile. "I know, Tony. I'm just teasing."_

It was not May and it was technically not a kidnapping, but Tony had taken her words to heart. If she wanted to be taken to the Bahamas, then she would be taken to the Bahamas. If she wanted the entire beach to herself, he would make it so. This was their time to shine, their turn to be happy, and nothing anyone else said or did was going to change his mind – his self-appointed task, to make sure that this occasion was as special to her as it felt to him.

_"Hey, Tony! Open up!" _Rhodey's voice coming from outside was followed by a loud knock and the blue-eyed boy immediately jumped to his feet. He gave himself a final look in the mirror to make sure everything was still in place and a moment later he opened the door to greet his friend.

"Hey, Rhodey! Has my sentence been decided?" Tony jested as he closed the door to the room behind him and joined Rhodey in the hall. "What's it gonna be? Death by marriage?"

"Uh, dude," Rhodey said with hesitation and rubbed the back of his neck, a move that instantly removed the smile from Tony's face. "I… I don't know how to say this… but… but…"

"But, what?" Tony asked. "But, what, Rhodey? What is it?"

"Dude," Rhodey shook his head and placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "It's Pepper… she, uhm, she backed down. The wedding's off. We… we've trying to convince her to go through with it, that's why I'm late. But we couldn't do it. It's not happening. She… she already left."

"What?" Tony felt his heart plummet to his feet. "She-she… she-what?"

Rhodey furrowed his brows and stared at Tony with a grim face, but the more Tony's face contorted into one of sadness, the less Rhodes was able to keep a straight face himself. In just seconds, Rhodey's lip began to quiver and a moment later he began laughing aloud. He bent down as he held his stomach with his hands and was almost not able to breath in enough oxygen to continue his cackling.

The inventor was at first confused as hell at the reaction of the Air Force cadet but when he realized what had just occurred, Tony responded to his friend's crude joke with a kick in the shin.

"Asshole!" Tony spat. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Ouch!" Rhodey moaned briefly at the spike of pain but then continued laughing aloud. "I-I had you, man! I totally had you!"

"Fuck you, Rhodey!" Tony said in anger but the beginnings of a small smile were starting to show. "That's not funny. That's not funny at all!"

"It was from where I'm standing," Rhodey argued and finally stopped his laugh. "You should've seen your face, man. Damn! You got it bad for Pepper!"

"And this is news to you?" Tony asked and rolled his eyes. "You're the worst Best Man ever. EVER! Next thing you know, you're gonna tell me you lost the rings."

Rhodey shrugged. "Well, now that you mention it…"

"Oh, shut up!" Tony said and he then began walking down the hall, not even checking to see if Rhodey was following him or not. "I don't have time to waste with you. I'm going to get married today."

"Oh, yeah, you're right!" Rhodey said with a snap of his fingers, pretending that he had forgotten what he was doing at the Bahamas and at the beach resort. "I think I heard something about that. Though I also heard about a betting pool of who freaks out first. So far, you've got the most money on you."

"Geez, that's awesome," the genius said with sarcasm and then slowed down his pace to allow his friend to catch up with him. "Why is everyone betting that I'll be the one freaking out?"

"Because you left Maya at the altar once?"

"That's different," Tony replied. "I didn't care for her."

"But you still dated her."

"Out of loneliness."

"And you still got engaged to her."

"Out of anger."

"And you almost actually married her."

"Out of stupidity."

"And why are you marrying Pepper today?"

"Out of love."

Even though this was the response he had wanted to hear, Rhodey shook his head at the genius, stood in his way and then held his upper arms in his hands to stop his march. Tony was taken aback by the sudden move but decided to wait and see what Rhodey would do or say before he jumped to conclusions again, just in case the man was about to play another prank on him.

"Look, man," Rhodey began. "I just… I just want to congratulate you. You and Pepper, you guys have been through so much shit to get here, and you both deserve this. I mean, you two also fucked up big time a lot of times, and sometimes I wondered if this day would ever come… or if I should have even let it happen, but it's finally here and it is what it is. I know that this goes without saying, but you better take care of her... or I will kick your ass. You two are my best friends, even if I have been away for so long, I still see you as my brother and Pepper as my sister. And I couldn't be happier for you. So, please, for fuck's sake: be happy already!"

Tony chuckled and nodded along before he surprised Rhodey by giving him a hug. He then pulled away from him but the smile was still present and he cleared his throat before he spoke. "I'll do my best, Rhodey. She's… she's in good hands."

"I know," he told him. "I know she is. And that you are, too."

Tony nodded in agreement and after a brief second of silence he resumed his walk. Rhodey walked next to him, also quietly for a while until Tony broke the silence when a thought came to him.

"Hey, did you also pull this prank on her?"

"Yup," Rhodey said.

"And?"

"I'mma have a large bruise on my chest tomorrow."

It was now Tony's turn to laugh aloud. "Serves you right, jerk. Where did she hit you?"

"Here," Rhodey responded and pointed to the sore spot on his chest, and not a millisecond after he did so, Tony punched him square in the same place Pepper had just injured him in minutes ago.

"GOTCHA!"

"AH! THAT HURTS!" The boy complained and bent over again, this time in pain. "What a fucking jerk!"

"Maybe, but you had it coming!"

"Says who?"

"ME! Tony Stark. Now hurry up, you sissy, I have a wedding to attend to."

"You, dumbass! If only you weren't getting married today," Rhodey said with a shake of his fist while his free hand rubbed his chest. "If only you weren't getting married…"

Tony waved off his friend's idle threat and his mind then switched gears to prepare himself for the most important moment of his life… until now.

_Please_, he thought with hope. _Please let it be alright._

xxxXXXxxx

The procession had gone smoothly and despite some minor setbacks – as in the baby needing a diaper change, the wedding ceremony had started right on time. Pepper had wanted to make sure the sunset was present throughout the brief ceremony, and so far everything and everyone was on schedule for her request to be carried out as expected. Baby James Stark had just finished his stroller parade down the aisle and the only person that was yet to make her appearance was the bride.

"Nervous?" Tony heard Rhodey ask from behind him and he gave him a curt nod. "Wait until you see her," James added. "Your jaw's gonna drop."

As if on cue and before Tony could come up with a retort, the music changed to what the inventor knew was the song Pepper had chosen to walk down the aisle. Even though the classic "Here Comes the Bride," had been suggested by the officiant, Pepper had insisted to do things differently. This was her wedding, after all, more than it was his, and Tony had supported whatever song she had chosen to come to him at the altar. She could have chosen to walk to the _Hooky Pokey_ for all he cared and he would have not given a damn as long as the walk ended with her standing before him.

Even though the wedding was taking place outside by the beach in what the _One&Only Ocean_ club resort called the _cloister_ – the structure they were currently in – the resort had placed a large curtain to cover the bride until the moment to reveal her came along. It took two employees a couple of seconds after they were cued in to remove the curtain, but once the task was completed and Pepper and Virgil appeared behind it, Tony gasped inwardly, and if he had not been so focused on staring at Pepper, he would have heard the crowd echo his reaction to her.

Her dress was simply stunning and it tightly hugged her curves* and her hairstyle made her face stand out even more than usual. Her long, wavy red tresses were arranged so that they cascaded down her right side, only at different lengths and angles, and some of her locks had been set so that they resembled the shapes of blooming flowers. With her natural hair color, the shapes looked like red roses, and thanks to her already curly hair, the loose hair strands made the entire style seem as if it was just naturally always there.

Her veil covered her entire face but Tony did not have to remove it to see how happy she was. It had all finally come down to this and he hoped against hope that nothing dared to ruin their day, their moment, if only to continue staring at her radiant face.

_This is it_, he told himself when Pepper was just feet away from him. _This is it._

Virgil gave his little girl a final kiss and after a fake stern look directed at the inventor and a finger pointing at his not-so-concealed gun – which earned him a few chuckles from the nearby guests – he handed Pepper to the genius. The retired FBI man did not have to voice his thoughts since his eyes said it all, and Tony nodded to him to let him know that he knew what he was about to do; what the doting father was about to give up. Tony was aware of what giving away his daughter to him meant, and the billionaire was willing, ready and able to provide for her and their son. Just as he had told the ginger many times before, in his heart they had already wed – this was just the formality taking place.

Tony grabbed onto Pepper's hands and kept them in his and for a moment everyone in the hall was either quiet or sobbing as the two youngsters stared into each other's eyes. The smiles on their faces could not have been wider on either of them and after an eternity and a nervous sideways glance, Pepper whispered to her groom.

"So, do you like it?"

"Do you really have to ask? I think my jaw hit the Indian Ocean just seconds ago."

Pepper giggled and shook her head, and after Tony kissed her hands, the officiant began the ceremony.

"Dear friends and family, we are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the union of Anthony Edward Stark and Patricia Marie Potts in marriage. In the years they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife."

Pepper bit her lower lip when she could feel the tears coming already, but she blinked them away to keep her makeup from running so soon. Tony seemed to notice her struggle and he stroked her knuckles before mouthing to her that it was going to be alright and over soon.

"True marriage is more than joining the bonds of marriage of two persons; it is the union of two hearts. It lives on the love you give each other and never grows old, but thrives on the joy of each new day. Marriage is love. May you always be able to talk things over, to confide in each other, to laugh with each other, to enjoy life together, and to share moments of quiet and peace, when the day is done. May you be blessed with a lifetime of happiness and a home of warmth and understanding.

"Anthony and Patricia, remember to treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Take responsibility for making the other feel safe, and give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulty and fear assail your relationship, as they threaten all relationships at some time or another, remember to focus on what is right between you, not just the part that seems wrong. In this way, you can survive the times when clouds drift across the face of the sun in your lives, remembering that, just because you may lose sight of it for a moment, does not mean the sun has gone away. And, if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight.

"Now, if anyone knows of any reason why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace."

The officiant did not give much of an opportunity for anyone to say anything, but that did not stop the couple from feeling as if time had suddenly stopped for them. They lost themselves in each other's eyes, just in case someone did try to separate them just now at this final stretch of the road. His blue eyes were glued to her hazel ones, even if just to make sure that if something did happen to halt their wedding, the only thought that would cross their minds at the moment would be of how happy they currently felt and how in love they were.

Would someone truly speak against their union? Would anyone have anything to object about? True, there were plenty of people who did not want them together, and they hoped that none of those people were currently sitting before them, having waited for just this very moment to break their attempt at joy. Gene Khan was one exception, but they knew that he would say nothing, although that did not mean that someone else would not. It would not be unheard of for them if it did happen, perhaps even expected, as something somewhere somehow always managed to ruin their existence in some way.

First, it had been Whitney, taking Pepper away from the inventor and putting her through hell. Then, after recovering her, Tony had been hit by the blow of realizing that the ginger did not remember him or anything else for that matter, effectively ending the relationship that had just begun, and his heart had been broken into tiny pieces of a whole. Afterwards, Ghost had taken her and had almost disposed of her and the ultimate result of that fight had been to lose her again; this time to another man.

Time had then passed, and arguments, dangerous missions and misunderstandings had plagued them both, and after a long time of separation they had finally found each other again for one night only to be separated by a rumor of something that had never actually occurred. Then James had come along and with him their spirits had been renewed, and even after S.H.I.E.L.D. had tried to break them both, their love had survived.

_They_ had survived.

And they would continue to do so even if someone spoke up against them being together right now. They could always elope. They could always disappear from the radar for a while, and they would definitely do so if anyone thought it was a good idea to stop them from becoming husband and wife.

Thankfully for them, and as a sign of catching a lucky break, no one made a sound.

"Very well," the officiant finally said and Tony and Pepper sighed in relief. The officiant then took a moment to stare at the bride and at the groom before preparing to continue his speech. However, the ceremony was briefly halted when Happy loudly blew his nose on a tissue and after a small laugh from everyone and a glare from Gene Khan, the officiant continued with the vows.

"Do you, Anthony Edward Stark, take Patricia Marie Potts, to be your partner in life and sharing your path; equal in love, a mirror for your true self, promising to honor and cherish, through good times and bad, until death do you part?"

"I do," Tony said, still staring at Pepper's eyes.

"And, do you, Patricia Marie Potts, take Anthony Edward Stark, to be your partner in life and sharing your path; equal in love, a mirror for your true self, promising to honor and cherish, through good times and bad, until death do you part?"

"I do," she replied.

"The rings?" The officiant pointed out and Rhodey's hands began frantically patting down his form until after a glare from Pepper he finally chuckled and took them out from his front pocket and handed the couple their corresponding rings.

"You'll be paying for that later," Tony mumbled under his breath and Rhodey gulped.

Tony grabbed Pepper's left hand in his and slowly slid the ring as he softly yet clearly said his part of the vows. "I, Tony, give you, Pepper, this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you."

As soon as Tony finished, Pepper mimicked his moves and also took his left hand in hers. "I, Pepper, give you, Tony, this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you."

"Good," the officiant said once the rings were in place and then turned to the crowd. "And now, by the power vested in me, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. Anthony, you may kiss your bride."

With a smile, Tony delicately lifted the veil from Pepper's face. His hands then held her by her neck and he leaned down and forward to press his lips against hers, earning him a myriad of reactions from their guests. Pepper held onto his wrists with her hands, and they eagerly kissed as cheering, clapping and whistling happened in the background. When they finally broke the kiss they rested their foreheads against each other and closed their eyes for a brief moment.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, for the first time: Mr. Anthony Stark and Mrs. Patricia Potts-Stark!"

* * *

**A/N:** No joke. Seriously; **no **joke. This just happened. For Real. It's not a dream or a prank, it won't turn out to have been illegitimate, and I'm not going to undo it later. Our favorite couple is married. FINALLY! Now tell me with an awesome review how happy YOU are about this :) Check out my profile to see the hairdo, the venue and the ring and to vote on my poll to decide which dress Pepper should be wearing. I couldn't decide between the two, so I thought I should let you, my Faithful Readers, make that choice. Once the decision is made, I'll come back and re-write that portion of the dress to describe it. The words of the officiant were pulled from a random website for the steps to a non-denominational wedding; I did not make them up. So… who wants more? I hear crickets! ;)


	7. Chapter 6

**A/N: **God, I'm slacking off… although there's a good reason for it. More details at the end. Again, thank you, my Faithful Readers for your loyalty and shows of appreciation (reads, reviews, favorites, follows, etc.). You are my shining star in these troubled times in my personal life.

**Guest Review Responses**

**Maleni: Awwww, a mi tambien me gustaria una historia de Gepper tambien y yo pienso que Gene es más lindo que Tony** – I'm not sure why, but I always have a soft spot for the antihero. I wrote an Egoshipping story at the same time I wrote a Pokeshipping story, and I love reading Ryouga/Akane fics as well. There's just something about the tough guy that cares for a girl that gets to me.

**ANA: TAMBIÉN DIGO LO MISMO, GENE ES MUY LINDO Y ME GUSTA MUCHO GEPPER, OJALA QUE UNO DE LOS DOS CORRIERA UN RIESGO MORTAL Y CONFESARAN LO QUE SENTIAN Y/O EL Y PEPPER TUVIERAN UN HIJO. PERO NO ME DECIDO SI DECIRTE SI TUVIERA UN NOMBRE NORMAL O UNO CHINO O AMBOS Y AYUDARA A GENE A SUPERAR LA PERDIDA DE SU MADRE – **I've actually thought about something similar, but for now it's only an idea since I have five other stories for Pepperony :)

**Toni: The whole time i was reading the new plot developments in the past few chapters i kept thinking 'what's going on'. And i know you promised light and happy chapters but i don't think i can thoroughly enjoy them knowing (well...not knowing exactly) that something is going to happen. But I do know that the suspense isn't going to stop me from continuing to read them! Loved the whole 'Out of...' dialogue between Tony and Rhodey. Haha your A/N at the end :) **– You and me BOTH! Sometimes I think of a wonderful scene that makes me smile and gets me all kinds of feels and then I sit down to write it and it turns mean and sour out of the blue. I think I may have unresolved issues from my childhood ;) But, all jokes aside, there is something big happening very soon but I hope that my track record of fixing the worst of things helps all of you maintain the interest in reading the story :) You all rock!

**Muah: Aww... Thank you so much Miss Starfire! (I'm the guest reviewer that had the same birthday as jojo32085 and I finally decided to give myself a name) Ahh... This chapter is one of my favourite chapters! It's so filled with warmth and love and humour and happiness and joy and... I could go on and on! When I got up to the part where Rhodey pulled a prank on Tony I totally believed it myself! I was so relieved that it was just a prank from good old Rhodey and I'm so glad that nothing went wrong for the first time for our favourite couple! TONY AND PEPPER ARE MARRIED! *screams* Anyway, can't wait for next chapter! (Phew, that is the longest review I have ever written!) I don't have a FFNET account, so I couldn't vote on your poll, so decided to give my feedback here. The venue, ring, hairdo and both dresses are gorgeous! I think the dress without sleeves would be too simple since Tony is a billionaire and would give the best for Pepper. So my vote is...the dress with sleeves! **– LOL! That dress argument is the SAME one I used with my husband when I told him I couldn't decide what she would wear! The dress without sleeves is more Pepper-like, I think, but the one with the sleeves is more wealthy-appropriate (as the couple is). With your vote plus the poll results so far, we have a tie XD

**Guest:** **FINALLY!they are married,am so happy,thanks a lot Miss Starfire,i totally love it,the best B-day gift ever!i love that part where Rhodey plays a prank on Tony and pepper!,i can imagine them freaking out!so funny., absolutely cute and fabulous chapter:-) ,oh and i vote for the dress with SOON.I WANT MORE!plz plz pz plz **– That makes it 4-3, favor of with sleeves ^_^ And I'm very happy that you liked the chapter. It was very exhausting to write because I wanted to make it unique and unexpected and I think I may have very well accomplished that. To be honest with you, I tend to stay away from writing wedding scenes with my ships (I've actually never written one until now) and I'm glad that the first time I did write it, it got to be for Pepperony!

**Maleni: Me sorprende que Loretta no se atrevio a presentarse en la boda de su hija **– With everything that happened in that chapter, it doesn't surprise me her presence was overlooked, but she did attend the wedding. I mentioned it here:_**"**__Since Howard would be left by himself, Trish would walk with him, and since Loretta was left by herself, Happy would walk with her."_

**Natalia: Aveces me habia puesto a ver esta serie y yo digo que Gene es muy lindoo a pesar de lo que hizo, el es una buena persona como se demostro **– He is, and a love triangle between he, Tony and Pepper I'd love to see… and you might see some of that here… in the future… maybe…

**Apps: AWESOME...The LOVELIEST ONE!... –** OMSDFHSDHAAS! Would you believe me that was me when I finally finished it? I mean, I knew that I was going to let them go through with the wedding and everything, but as a shipper I too was excited to see them marry :)

And finally, I would like to personally welcome our new Faithful Readers turned reviewers: Natalia, Miku-Donut and Muah! Some of you may have reviewed as guests before, but it's easier for me to track when you leave a penname behind (hinthint). Welcome to the weird world of MS's mind!

* * *

**Chapter 6: August**

He was currently staring at it with his own two eyes, but he could not make himself believe it. He knew that what he was seeing should have not surprised him at all and that it was everything but unexpected for his friend to be doing what he was currently doing, but that did not make the scene any less shocking… or any less _cute_. Cute was not a word he used often, especially when referring to other males, but there was no other word he could think about at the moment to describe what he had been watching unfold for the past ten minutes.

His eyes bore into Tony as the inventor again dipped the tiny spoon inside the bowl containing baby food and then made airplane noises with his mouth. The spoon in his hand followed the rhythm of the silly sound effects the blue-eyed boy made, and after the loud giggle of baby James was heard, the _airplane spoon_ ended up _crash landing_ inside the infant's mouth.

It was quite the sight, without a doubt – a moment that the redhead would have surely wanted to capture for eternity in her baby scrapbook. Sadly for her, Pepper Potts-Stark was not around to see it happen. It was SI board meeting day and the top executives had wanted to meet with the Stark Solutions CEOs ASAP – whoever of the two owners felt like showing up; it was all the same to them. At this point, the board members of Stark International had no ground to stand on to diss the ginger's presence in their meetings as she was now officially the wife of Tony Stark.

"That's a good boy," Rhodey heard his friend say to his son as he pulled back the spoon from his mouth and James began to sloppily chew the bite. "Are you full yet?"

Baby James cooed and softly patted the flat surface of his high-chair with his palms; his eyes stared attentively at his father's identical ones.

"I'll take that as a _no_," Tony said and then waited patiently as his son ate everything he had inside his mouth.

"I sincerely hope that you're not really relying on a four-month old baby to TELL you he's full."

"I'm not," Tony said while he used a cloth to wipe the baby's face. "He'll just start spitting it back up when he is full."

"Or when he wants a drink to wash it down. That stuff is no good," Rhodey said and adjusted his position on the couch from where he had been watching Tony feed his son just a few feet away from him. "I don't know what's worse: baby food or breast milk."

Tony arched a single eyebrow and stated at his friend. "When have you had either?"

"Baby food? A dare at the Air Force Academy. Breast milk? Never, but I can't imagine that anything produced by a human body can taste any good. I'll never taste breast milk. EVER. I'm so glad my mom never breastfed me. It's just revolting."

_That's because she has implants from her secret porn star days_, Tony wanted to inform his friend, but held back. He then smiled at Rhodey's choice of words; it reminded him of how he himself had once accidentally used that same word to describe Pepper's breast milk and how his statement had caused an argument between them. He had paid for that with loads of interest.

"Don't let Pepper hear you say that about breast milk," the genius warned. "She'll beat you up for it."

"Like she beat you up when you said it?"

"I never said I said it."

"Don't need to tell me," Rhodey shrugged. "That just sounds like something you'd say."

Tony narrowed his eyes at the Air Force cadet and silently mouthed a string of colorful words that he was not allowed to say in front of his son. "Hardy-har-har, Mr. Know-It-All. Keep it up and I'll tell Pepper you said that."

"Do that and I'll tell her that you're building her a jetpack for her birthday."

"Go ahead," Tony said before giving his son another bite of baby food. "That's just _one_ of the things I'm giving her for her birthday, anyway. Besides, only a_ terrible_ person would spoil his friend's birthday by telling her what her husband has been working so hard to keep a secret."

"Fine! I won't tell her," Rhodey said when guilt instantly hit him and he folded his arms. "And, for the record, hearing any of you using the words_ husband_ or _wife,_ sounds so weird to me. I still can't believe you and Pepper are married. It sounds so… _mature_. And mature is a word I don't typically associate with either of you."

"I know," Tony agreed with a smile. "But it's also cool."

"Cool? Being married is cool? Darn, T! You sure didn't strike me as the domesticated type. Where's the guy who couldn't even get to a date on time?"

"That wasn't me," the inventor clarified. "That was Iron Man."

Rhodey inwardly flinched at his slip-up and even though he attempted for his eyes not to denote that he was beating himself up for the unintended reminder of the superhero's fate, Tony could see right through his cover and smiled to let his friend know that it was not as much of a big deal as it appeared to be or as everyone thought it was.

"It's alright, Rhodey," Tony said with a shrug. "I'm over it. It was just a trade. Nothing more than that," he added and began cleaning after his son when the baby had stopped eating. He then lifted James from the chair, held him in his arms, walked over to the couch and sat next to his friend, baby on his lap. "And I think I got the best part of the trade. Besides, you and Pepper still get to be War Machine and Rescue, anyway, so the city is not left unwatched."

Rhodey silently stared at the genius as he played with his son's fists for a few seconds and then his attention was diverted when the television in front of them suddenly turned on, courtesy of the inventor's Extremis. The television then changed stations until it landed on a cartoon channel and the scene instantly caught the attention of the baby. Tony readjusted the position of the child so that he was now completely facing the screen and as the infant lost himself in the colorful animation, the retired hero returned his attention to his friend.

"Can you stop staring at me like I'm wounded? I'm not a kid anymore."

"Sorry," Rhodey said and looked at his lap. "I guess I've just been gone for too long. You… you've changed a lot, Tony."

"Hard not to, with everything that's happened." Tony admitted and alternated between staring at the television, his son and his friend. "Everyone changes, Rhodey. I'm sure you have, too. I just haven't been around you enough to see it yet."

"Well, I'll be home for good starting next year, in May, unless I get called for a mission, that is."

"So, you're seriously joining S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"Why not?" Rhodey shrugged. "I figured it's a good way to keep Rescue and War Machine from being marked as enemies and the job is pretty much work-from-home. I still can't believe that Pepper rejected the offer, though. She's always wanted to work for them."

"She stopped wanting to join them a long time ago and our priorities have changed. She once even told off Fury during a board meeting. You should've seen it, Rhodey. She was awesome."

"I bet she was. And I'm sure Nick was shocked."

"Everyone was," Tony admitted. "Even me. That's when I knew Pepper had changed. I mean, she's never taken crap from anyone, but talking back to Nick Fury when all she had ever wanted to do before was impress him was a big surprise."

"And knowing your freakish ways, I'm sure it was a turn on, too."

Tony chuckled at being caught but felt no shame for it. "You don't know the half of it. I couldn't tell her anything when she did it then, but now that I can, I watch for the signs that she's about to chew someone out during the board meetings and watch from the security feed. _Especially_ if the target is Hutchinson. He's such an a-hole to her even if he knows she can totally kick his butt."

"Why do you let him do that to her?"

"I don't_ let_ him, but I don't want to undermine her authority and she can defend herself. Besides, anything that he's done so far hasn't been really _that _awful, just stupid and he looks like an idiot when he does try to catch her off guard. But if he ever really tries to test the boundaries…" Tony finished his statement by cracking his knuckles.

"He probably thinks you're no threat without your suit. If only he knew about Extremis."

"I actually do hope he does think that. It'd be so much more pleasant to break his nose if he thinks I can't beat him up."

"How does Pepper put up with his shi-shenanigans?" Rhodey immediately corrected himself when he remembered they were in the company of a baby. "From what I can tell, that guy has been a nightmare since the beginning."

"Well, she puts up with me, so…" Tony smiled and shrugged and Rhodey snickered. "She's got loads of experience."

"True, that," Rhodey responded and before he was able to further mock his friend for his shortcomings, the front door to the penthouse opened to reveal Happy Hogan.

The jock was more than eager to join the hang-out after a long day at school, so he quickly made his way to the couch, said hello to everyone – including the little guy – and then sighed when he felt his body relax on the comfortable piece of furniture.

"So," Happy began. "I saw a pigeon barf on my way here. Let me tell you all about it."

Suddenly, drinking breast milk was not the most disgusting thing in the world for James Rhodes.

xxxXXXxxx

She opened her eyes to the morning light filtering through the large windows she had sworn she had covered with the thick curtains the night before. She had wanted to sleep in on her day of birth, even if just for a little while and even if she was turning twenty-one today, but it appeared that someone had other plans for her.

She yawned loudly and rubbed her eyes with the bottom of her palms and as she slowly turned around to check in on her husband, she was instead greeted with the sight of a huge gift box on his side of the bed. She could not help but smile widely at the pleasant surprise and shifted her body so that she could extend her arms to reach the box.

The redhead giggled like a schoolgirl as she began tearing apart the wrapping paper and seconds later gasped when she saw what was inside: a personalized jetpack. "Holy shit!"

Thankfully for her, the baby had been returned to his room after their week-long honeymoon at the Bahamas had ended and the door to the master bedroom was currently closed, which left her with the ability to cuss to her heart's content. "Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! Oh, my gosh! IT'S A FUCKING JETPACK!"

She threw the empty box to the floor and kneeled on the bed as she began thoroughly analyzing her present. It had the logo of Stark Solutions on the back – as she had expected it – and it matched the colors of her Rescue armor. The invention was obviously the work of the blue-eyed boy and the small engraving of her married name on the side of it brought an even wider smile to her face.

One would have anticipated the female hero not to need a jetpack at all when she already owned a perfectly capable, high-tech suit of armor and had dozens of others at her disposition, but it had always been something she had wanted ever since she had become aware of the existence of S.H.I.E.L.D. and their jetpacks. Even if she just displayed the contraption inside a glass case in her office, she was excited to even own one at all.

"And I bet it's better than S.H.I.E.L.D.'s!" She assured herself as she happily pressed the jetpack to her chest.

"Of course it is," said her husband from the door, still in his typical sleeping attire of pajama pants and no shirt and socks, startling her half-to-death. "I made the damned thing! It's better than anything anyone could ever have."

"Tony!" The redhead yelped, surrounded her bare body with one of the bed sheets, jumped off the bed and threw herself to her husband's awaiting arms. "This is the best gift ever! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"You're welcome, Pep. Happy birthday!" The genius smirked and was filled with exaggerated pride at hearing her approving words of his gift. He then picked up the redhead in his arms and threw them both onto the bed. His lips immediately captured hers and after a long, slow kiss he finally pulled back despite her pouting face. "But that's not the only one you're getting today, Mrs. Stark. Your celebration is just getting started."

"Really?" Her eyes grew wide in anticipation and her frown instantly disappeared. "What else do you have planned?"

"A few things," he said nonchalantly as if he had not spent days planning for her birthday even though his smug smile told her otherwise. "Wait here, OK?"

"OK," she said as he stood up from the bed. "Is James awake?"

"Yup, he'll be here shortly."

"Alright," she said and reverted her attention to her jetpack until Tony returned. Anticipating that the baby and her husband would probably make use of the bed too, she decided to place the jetpack back inside the box she had so haphazardly discarded moments ago. She then grabbed one of Tony's t-shirts and threw it over herself and then returned to her side of the bed just in time before Tony walked back inside with a tray of food in his hands.

"Did you have a good rest, Pep?" He asked and placed the tray on the nightstand as he prepared for serving her breakfast in bed. "I hope you're not too tired after last night," he asked her with a wink, shamelessly bringing up their late-night, pre-birthday gift he had given her.

"Not really," she said and winked back. "Either I'm gaining stamina or you need to work harder, Mr. Stark," she added with a smirk and he playfully glared at her.

"Challenge accepted, baby," he whispered teasingly and she blushed. "Platter?"

"Yup," she replied and sat with her back resting on the headboard and her legs stretched on the bed. The genius then carefully placed the food tray on her lap and after placing a kiss to her forehead, he left the bedroom again.

The breakfast meal looked delicious to her and she was not sure where to start eating, and the single flower that he had left on her nightstand just now made the scene that much sweeter for her. She knew that Tony could constantly be completely oblivious to other people's feelings but she also had the good fortune of experiencing the romantic side he had slowly developed over the years of being together. It had been proven, over and over again, that her initial theory that once Tony fell for someone he truly cared about, the crappy boyfriend he had been to Whitney back in the day would eventually be replaced by a caring, thoughtful guy.

Or a caring, thoughtful husband, in her case.

Seconds after leaving, Tony finally returned to the bedroom with James in his arms and Pepper almost spat the sip of orange juice she had just drunk with what her eyes were seeing. "Oh, my GOD!"

"I know!" Tony said and then sat next to the redhead, baby on his lap – the baby who was on his own holding a bottle filled with milk and was happily suckling from it. "Look at him, Pep. A genius; just like his dad."

"I can't believe it," she said with tears of happiness and relief in her eyes. "How… when… wow!"

Tony snickered and briefly ran the back of his fingers down her face. "I've been working with him all month and yesterday he finally started to get the hang of it. This morning I just flashed him the bottle and he grabbed it as if he had been doing it all along."

"Oh, Tony! You… you have no idea what… this… what this…"

"It's alright, Pepper," he told her, leaned in to her and kissed her cheek. "You deserve a break and if he continues to be fine with it in the next few days, I think you can stop nursing him once and for all."

Pepper felt her voice breaking so she did not voice her gratitude but she hoped that her tears were enough for now to show him how appreciative she was for what he had done. She loved nursing her baby but the more she got back into her regular lifestyle, the least amount of time she had to be there every time James felt like breastfeeding. It had been a nightmare so far whenever she was away at work, to the point that Tony had several times been forced to bring the baby over to her office for feeding time.

"Thank you, Tony," she whispered and then kissed him. The inventor closed his eyes and tenderly kissed her back, stopping only when the baby moved. The couple separated, stared down and watched in awe as their son held the bottle of milk in one hand and extended his other little palm towards Pepper, opening and closing his fist as if to call her attention to him.

"Do you want to sit with mommy?" The redhead asked her son and he smiled despite the bottle still being in his mouth. "OK, come sit with me."

Tony carefully helped the ginger and the baby so that she was able to eat her breakfast while James sat on her lap and as the heartwarming scene of his son giggling with his mother unfolded before him, Tony felt happiness fill him. He had been correct in his assumption that he had relayed to Rhodey a few weeks ago: he _had_ gotten the better end of the trade. No suit of armor would ever be worth exchanging living the rest of his life with his wife and his kid.

xxxXXXxxx

Central Park in the mid-summer was simply stunning; a hidden gem for most. Even as a child growing up in the Big Apple, neither Tony nor Pepper had ever taken the time to actually enjoy the highly acclaimed landmark of their city and it was not until now that their little one was all _oohs and aahs_ with the scenery that the two adults realized how precious the location truly was.

How many more years of happiness and thrill could the park provide to their son? How many more years of pure, safe entertainment could they rely upon from the park? Someone as technologically-inclined as Tony Stark had first scoffed at the idea of taking his wife and son to the park for his redhead's birthday, but after Happy had insisted he checked out the website for the location, Tony was immediately sold on the idea and he knew he would never regret it.

Even if some people had recognized them and had approached them for autographs or pictures, the family had been left alone for the most part, even when they – read: Pepper – were acting like fools when James did something that had Pepper squealing in delight and taking pictures of her son. The news that the couple had wed was already old but still some people had approached them to congratulate them on their wedding and to gawk at the little boy that was easily stealing the spotlight from the once sought-after, young male CEO.

Maybe it was the fact that James was the first-born of a billionaire who had been known for his early genius status and people had very high expectations of the child. Or maybe it was because he was the son of a former and current superhero duo – the forced retirement Iron Man had suffered had been kept under wraps. Or maybe it was simply the fact that the baby of electric blue eyes and reddish-brown hair was just so darn cute.

For the outing, Pepper had dressed James in simple jean shorts and a blue and white checked shirt and had also covered his feet in tiny brown shoes he would probably outgrow next month. He also wore a baseball cap with the logo of the New York Yankees that he had tried taking off for half of the time they had been at the park and that Tony had attributed to his son perhaps wanting to root for the Mets rather than the Yankees.

The redhead wore blue jean short shorts, a solid, pink-colored sleeveless, ruffled blouse and matching sandals and held her hair in a low, sideways ponytail from which her wavy mane cascaded down her right shoulder. She complemented the look with sunglasses and a backpack in which she carried baby items James could potentially need, but that was currently lying on the ground near their camping site.

The inventor wore Bermuda-type jean shorts, sandals and a white undershirt that was visible from the rolled-up sleeves and the hem of the red and white, short-sleeved, stripped shirt he wore above it. He had lost his sunglasses somewhere along the way so he had bought a baseball cap to protect his face from the bright sun. He also carried a backpack of his own but his had contained the items needed for the picnic lunch he had prepared for the three of them and which they had enjoyed just minutes ago, and just as the backpack Pepper had been carrying throughout the trip, his bag was presently lying next to the ginger's on the grassy ground.

"Can we just _live_ here, Tony?" Pepper asked in a soft voice to prevent waking up James who had decided to nap immediately after having lunch. The infant was currently using Tony's chest and stomach as a bed, which had him and the redhead lying on their backs on a blanket they had placed on the grass, their hands intertwined and their eyes staring at the skies. "It's so peaceful and clean and quiet and I think I could be happy touring the park every day."

"I can buy it for you," he said, also in a soft tone and gave her hand a squeeze. "Or I can buy you an island with a park inside. Or both"

"Buy me an island?" She arched an eyebrow and scoffed. "Where did _that_ idea come from?"

"From Natasha Romanoff."

"What?"

"Oh, yeah! I guess I've never told you about it," he began. "After we found out that Whitney had you, we thought of a plan to force Whitney to come out so we could catch her. We, me and my dad, we worked on an upgrade to the Madame Masque mask and used it on Natasha to make her look like you. I," he snickered at the thought. "I spent _days_ pretending that she was you and took her out on dates, public places, trying to get Whitney to come out of hiding, thinking that you had somehow managed to escape."

"Huh," Pepper mused. "Is that how you ended up catching her?"

"Yeah," he said. "It took a while but it worked in the end."

"And, how does this relate to buying an island?"

"Oh, well. On the last date we had before Whitney finally showed up, Natasha and I were talking about the places I had taken her for our dates and I told her that whatever we had done so far was only the beginning, and that I went all out on _real _dates."

"Real dates? You? Really?" Pepper interrupted with a snicker and a mocking tone. "Like you'd ever gone on a real date until then. You couldn't even make it to a concert on time… WITH advanced notice!"

"No, I know! I'm not lying to myself. I know I hadn't _yet_, but I had the idea of some. I had an idea of where I wanted to take you or what I wanted us to do… and…" Tony briefly closed his eyes when a sad thought hit him but he quickly shook it off. "Anyway, she asked me what I did on a real date and she suggested the idea of buying the girl an island and I said that the idea wasn't bad."

"'Course you would, Mr. Billionaire," Pepper replied. "Although, you wouldn't have impressed _me_ with an island."

"Yeah, I would've," he stated matter-of-factly. "You may have gotten over it by now but you were highly impressionable back then, or have you forgotten how excited you got whenever I did an upgrade to the suit? In fact, I don't have to go back that far. Weren't you screaming all girly-_ish_ this morning when you got your jetpack, uh?"

"Uhm… well… I, uh…ahem…" Pepper felt a light blush creep up in her face at the memories of her immature responses to his inventions but she refused to let him know that he was in the right about her reactions to anything he came up with. She knew that he still sometimes mocked her for liking Gene Khan and Justin Hammer and for dating Happy Hogan, and she did not want to give him more ammunition to use against her when she only had Whitney Stane as his single romantic blunder to rub in his face.

"That doesn't prove anything," she told him. "An island and a jetpack are completely different things."

"Sure they are, Pep," he said teasingly, not at all deterred by her attempts at saving face and Pepper groaned. "They surely are not the same. One's a piece of land and the other's a piece of tech. Thank you for clearing that up!"

His flippant retort only made her blush extend down to her neck and ears and the couple remained silent for a swift moment while Pepper regained her normal pale color on her increasingly reddening face and after she cleared her throat, she finally spoke again. "So," she began with a seemingly innocent tone and glanced at her unsuspecting husband from the corner of her eye. "Was there any _kissing_ involved when you worked with Natasha during this time?"

The loud gulp that came from him and his widening eyes were the only responses she needed from him.

xxxXXXxxx

By the time the sun was about to set on the horizon, the family had found themselves in the elevator on their way home at the top of the Stark Solutions tower. The ride was quiet for a Thursday afternoon in the city but not uncomfortably so even after the short-lived argument that the redhead and her husband had had regarding how many times he had kissed Natasha Romanoff during the undercover mission she had found out about today.

In the end, the fight had not lasted long and had instantly concluded when baby James had woken up from his nap. It was now almost completely forgotten since Pepper had remembered that whatever had happened in the past was just that: history and nothing more.

_He did what he had to do to find me_, she had thought after she had apologized to him for overreacting. _He did what he thought was necessary to get me back._

"Pepper?" He called out to her to get her attention when he realized that the woman had not moved an inch even though the doors to their private hall had opened seconds ago. The redhead snapped back to reality at hearing the genius' voice and she quietly followed him and their son who he was holding in the baby carrier he had strapped onto his chest. Tony unlocked the security alarm to their home using Extremis and moments later the trio found themselves in the living room of the penthouse that was currently not deserted at all.

"Well, there you are!" Happy said with arms opened wide. "We've been waiting for you for _hours_!"

"What?" Tony asked as he began unpacking the picnic leftovers and placed them on the kitchen counter. "You guys knew we weren't gonna be here until now."

"No, we didn't," Rhodey clarified and grabbed his _nephew_ from Tony so that the inventor could continue unpacking the goods. "You said you were going to take Pepper out to the park. You never said when you'd be back. We'd almost given up on you."

"Happy birthday, Pepper!" Happy said, completely ignoring Tony and Rhodey's spat. "I brought you some flowers, and left them AND your gift in your room."

"Thanks, Happy," the ginger said with a smile and returned the hug Hogan was offering. "You know you didn't have to do that."

"I know, but I wanted to," he replied and briefly lifted her from the ground with his hug, causing her to giggle at the show of strength. "And now, Rhodey and I are going to give you the second part of your gift."

"Second part?" Pepper asked, taken aback by the news and immediately stared at Tony who also had a look of confusion on his face.

"Don't look at me, Pep," he replied with a shake of the head while he took her backpack from her and began unloading it in the same fashion he had just finished cleaning out his own. "I don't know what they're talking about."

"It's true. He actually doesn't," Rhodey confirmed, baby still in his arms. "He has no idea what Happy and I have planned for tonight."

"What _did_ you plan for tonight?" Pepper asked with hesitation, walked over to Rhodey to grab the baby but he instantaneously took a step back and away from her. "What are you doing, Rhodey?"

"We're going to babysit for you tonight!" Happy exclaimed with a wide, satisfied smile on his face. "We have it all figured out and you two get to spend some time alone. Isn't that the best birthday gift ever?"

Pepper bit her lower lip. She was not immediately sold on the idea. It had taken Tony weeks to learn how to properly take care of his own son, and while Rhodey was much more mature than her boy genius was, she was not yet entirely certain that she could trust the two young men with her child. "But, Happy, I… we… I mean, that's not necessary, I think we had enough–"

"Nonsense, Pepper," Happy interrupted her. "It's your 21st birthday and since we can't take you to Vegas like Rhodey had promised, the least we can do is watch over Jimmy so that you and Tony can go out dancing tonight!"

"Dancing?" The idea suddenly seemed good to the ginger and she clasped her hands together over her chest. "We-we can go _dancing_?"

Tony silently chuckled and shook his head at Rhodey behind Pepper's back, already seeing the flawlessness of their plan. They knew that passing on the chance to go dancing was something Pepper would not do and disappointing her was one of the very few things that Tony avoided as well. He too was not sure about leaving Happy in charge of his son's well-being, especially since the bounty all three of them had attached to their heads was still very much present in the back of his mind, but he also recognized that he and Pepper had not gone out on their own since their honeymoon. Even if it had been no more than a month ago, he knew that the two of them also needed to spend some quality time together by themselves for their marriage to work and grow.

_Besides_, Tony mused. _War Machine is here and the entire Iron Man arsenal can be called in at the blink of an eye by either one of them._

When the inventor finally finished putting away their belongings and realized that Pepper's interest had been caught, he walked over to where the redhead was standing, surrounded her upper body from behind, rested his chin on her left shoulder and swayed their bodies together from side to side in a slow motion. "What do you say, Pep? Wanna go out?"

"Uh, well, yeah, I do. It's dancing and all, but…" she trailed when her eyes landed on her baby who was currently giggling away with his Uncle Rhodey and she frowned. "No, it's OK. It's almost feeding time for Jimmy and he needs to be bathed and put to sleep and —"

"And we can totally do that for him, Pepper," Happy insisted and then took James from Rhodey's arms. "Isn't that the truth, little buddy? Your mommy can trust us, right?" He asked the baby as he lifted him up and down in the air, causing the baby's giggles to turn into all-out bouts of laughter that made Pepper sigh.

"Come on, Pepper," Tony whispered encouragingly to her before kissing her cheek. "We won't be out all night if you don't want to; just a couple hours, max."

The redhead watched her son have fun with his _uncles_ and after taking in a deep breath and feeling a reassuring squeeze from her husband, she finally agreed. "Alright, but if anything is wrong with him –"

"We'll give you a call, immediately," Rhodey promised. "Now go get ready and get rid of that stench of grass and sand. Happy and I will start getting ready to watch over him."

"OK. Fine. We can go."

Tony led his wife towards their room to get ready for their outing and when the doors to the master bedroom closed and the two boys knew that neither the ginger nor the blue-eyed boy could hear them, they stared at each other.

"Do you know how to take care of a baby?" Happy asked, still holding James in his arms.

"Nope," Rhodey said and rested both of his hands on the back of his head.

"Gonna wing it?" Happy inquired.

"Yup," Rhodey replied and after a common shrug, the two men made their way to the nursery to start figuring out how to do everything they had just promised they would deliver.

xxxXXXxxx

The Standard Hotel in New York City was known for many of its exclusive and elite-catering amenities, particularly by its event center called The Top of the Standard, which sometimes doubled as an invitation-only nightclub by the name of The Boom Boom Room and was located at the top level of the hotel, giving its visitors a beautiful view of the city's skyline. Only the rich and famous were welcomed to the venue, and even then the bouncers narrowed down admission to the locale by judging the way you looked.

Tony Stark had never tried to use his influence to gain access to nit-picky places such as this, but on short notice and with the need to be a in place where he and Pepper could spend some time together without being bothered by unwanted and unneeded attention, the location had been the best option for them. Needless to say, their outfits had to be impeccable and denoted the cache the bouncers of the site required of their guest to make the cut.

Without a doubt, being allowed into the club without an invitation or a reservation had been a breeze for them, especially when Tony had thrown in the conversation that it was his new wife's twenty-first birthday today. The bouncers most certainly did not want to be in the papers tomorrow, painted as the _horrible_ people that had denied a well-known _new mom_ some time to herself.

Pepper had opted to wear a number similar to the outfit she had worn when the Maggia had taken her from The Rotary but this particular dress showed more skin than the aforementioned. Tony had decided to go almost too formal with a gray suit, but he had relaxed the getup a little by not wearing a tie or a bow and by leaving the top buttons loose. If Happy and Rhodey had not known the duo before they had become who they were to society today, they would have rolled their eyes at the aura of superiority they had had to display when they had entered the elitist club.

"Can I act normal now?" Pepper whispered to Tony into his ear to be heard above the loud music and general chatter of the other patrons, a fake smile on her face. Her right arm was snaked around his left one as they slowly walked to the nearest available booth and already they were catching the attention of some of the other club-goers. "The pretentious attitude is so annoying."

"I think we're out of the hearing range of the bouncers," Tony said with a smile of his own, this one an honest grin as he stared at his wife, agreeing with and understanding her dislike of having to play the part they were expected to portray as young, wealthy people. It went without saying that the couple was more down-to-Earth than most other billionaires around, but they were also aware that they sometimes had to put up with pretending to be something they were not for the sake of keeping the media and other interested parties off their case.

"There," the redhead pointed to a two-person table. "That seems to be available."

"Let's take it."

Tony surprised the redhead by pulling out the chair for her and then by assisting her to push it back in until she was at a comfortable angle – one that allowed a view of most of the venue, and he then took his own seat in front of her. As soon as they were both seated, his hands immediately found hers on the table and he laced their fingers together, elbows bent, in a similar manner as they had done so when they had shared midnight cookies and warm milk weeks after Pepper had recovered from her comma following the kidnapping incident with Whitney. The simple gesture made the ginger smile wide and she shook her head in slight embarrassment that was clearly shown on her reddening cheeks.

It was not as if Tony had been raised by wolves but he rarely showed signs of chivalry while in public. In fact, and as of late and not entirely obvious to her until he had proposed to her during the Stark Solutions Christmas Party, had he even started displaying affection to her in public; affection that went beyond a quick hug, kiss or a hand on the small of her back. Affection that was deeper and more expressive and meaningful than she had ever thought possible coming from the seemingly romantically inept teen she had once known him to be.

"You look gorgeous, Pepper," he kissed her hands. "You should definitely dress like that more often. And I should take you out more, too."

"You don't look bad yourself," she replied and winked. "Although, the torn jeans and no shirt combined with the overworked scientist look is not bad either," she added and he chuckled.

"I agree," he began and then leaned closer to her. "It's gotten me lucky a few times."

"Tony!" She spat and then looked left and right to make sure no one was eavesdropping. "Watch what you're saying!"

"Why?" He asked with a shrug. "It's not like it's a secret, Pep. We're married and have a kid together. I'm pretty sure everyone already assumes we sleep together. I mean, they already did WAY before we even got together. Why wouldn't they do so now?"

"Well, yeah, I know that," she mumbled when one of the waiters walked by and took note of them. "But that doesn't mean you need to advertise it."

"I'm not advertising it. But I can start doing so if you want me to. What's best for you? Press conference? Billboard? TV commercial? Scream it right here, right now?"

"What? Don't be ridiculous, Stark! Who does that?"

"Uhm, you?"

"What? Are you crazy? When have I ever advertised my sex life to the world?" She asked with slight irritation, but when all he did was smile and raise his eyebrows as he waited for her to answer her own question and it finally came to her, her jaw dropped. "Uhm, well… that… that doesn't count."

Tony threw his head back in laughter. "How the hell doesn't it count? You were at a live show on _Good __**fucking**__ Morning America_!"

"I didn't advertise about our sex life. I advertised about Scott's."

"By denying ours."

"We didn't HAVE one then."

"We would've if you hadn't left me."

"Ugh! Do you really want to go down that route?"

"No," he immediately said. "I'm just messing with you."

"Clearly," she said and then sighed. "But you're right: I did screw up that time. Whatever. Let's not talk about it anymore, OK?"

"Sounds like a plan," he said and then heard a song that he knew Pepper loved had started to play and before he could even ask her if she wanted to dance to it, he found himself being dragged to the dance floor by a very eager redhead.

xxxXXXxxx

"Dude, this is so not working," Happy complained, his shirt covered with baby food that had been thrown his way by the infant sitting in the high-chair, while Rhodey attempted for the nth time to feed James. "Are you sure that Tony was feeding him with a spoon?"

"He was!" Rhodey said over the sobs of the baby. "He was making the sounds I'm making and swirling the spoon and Jimmy was just opening his mouth like nobody's business."

"Maybe he's not hungry."

"He's been crying for an hour, Happy," Rhodes reminded him. "He's starving."

"Maybe we should bathe him first and THEN feed him."

"No way," Rhodey shook his head to avoid another spit from the baby as he rejected the food. "He's only gonna get messy again when we try to feed him once more."

"Well, maybe we'll just have to bathe him twice. Maybe the water will calm him down and then he'll eat whatever we feed him."

"Maybe," Rhodey began. "Yeah, maybe you're right. Let's do that."

"OK," Happy agreed but did not move an inch. Rhodey then took a step back, stood next to Happy and then crossed his arms over his chest. They remained silent and unmoving for half a minute and then finally Happy spoke up again. "Never bathed a baby before?"

"Nope."

"Look for a video online."

"Absolutely."

xxxXXXxxx

"Oh, my gosh, Tony!" Pepper said with an amused chuckle and took another spoonful of the massive ice cream sundae they had ordered for them to share while they took a break from dancing. "You need to watch what you say around him!"

"I know! I know!" Tony replied and snickered. "You have no idea how close I've come to just telling him, but it hasn't been on purpose, I swear!"

"I know you wouldn't do it on purpose," she admitted and fed him the next bite of ice cream. The inventor smiled and gladly accepted the offer and after swallowing it down, he continued his story.

"Anyway, I'm still in awe that he doesn't know his mom used to be a porn star. It's like, unheard of that those kinds of things don't eventually come to light."

"Well, Roberta is very professional in everything she's done," she said with a one-sided shrug. "Even if someone tried to screw her over by revealing what she did to get where she is now, she'd totally find a way to make it work for her rather than against her."

"I'm sure. She'd probably end up turning the entire situation it into a motivational book of some sort." Tony said and then opened his mouth for Pepper to give him another spoonful of ice cream. "Make millions," he added as he chewed the ice cream.

"If she makes millions with her story, we'd make _billions_ with what's happened to us," the ginger said with a roll of her eyes and then stood up. "I'll be right back."

"OK," Tony said and leaned back in the chair. "Don't take long. I'm ready to dance again."

"You mean you're ready to feel me up again in front of everyone in the middle of the dance floor?" She asked, referencing the many times so far that she had to ask him to mind their location when his hands roamed to places they should not be when in public.

"That too." He answered without shame. He did not care if Mother Theresa, the Pope or even the ginger's father was near them. Pepper was his friend, his woman, his wife and the mother of his son, and he had fought long and hard to be with her and make her happy. He was not going to let some gawking people stop him from showing her how much he loved her and wanted her. He was not going to let what others thought of them prevent him from enjoying every living second he had with her.

The alcohol in his system did nothing to reduce his already large need to touch her whenever he could and Pepper partly blamed his current behavior on his intoxicated state. Then again, she could not say that she minded the attention as it reminded her of the first – and only – time her and the inventor had walked to school together. It had only taken that single walk for her to realize how _physically expressive_, as she had put it then, Tony could be.

He playfully winked at her retreating form as she shook her head and his eyes followed her until she turned the corner that led to the ladies room of the club. His eyes then returned to the sundae and he took in another bite of it, completely missing the moment when a familiar face ran down the hall to catch up with the unsuspecting redhead.

xxxXXXxxx

"No, Mom! This is _not_ normal!" Rhodey yelled his side of the conversation so that his voice carried over to the phone he had on speaker. "We already bathed him, fed him, and changed his diaper and he won't stop crying!"

_"Babies don't cry just because they want to, James,"_ Roberta said over the phone. _"There must be something you two are missing."_

"But what could it be, Mrs. Rhodes?" Happy asked as he too was scratching his head over the baby's constant crying. "All I can think of is that he's tired and wants to sleep but he won't let us carry him to take him to his bed. I… I think he even_ growled_ at us!"

Roberta laughed aloud. _"Oh, goodness! This is priceless!"_

"What's priceless?"

_"The fact that Jimmy is acting just like my little boy did when he was a baby. It must be the name."_

"WHAT?" Rhodey spat. "I wasn't this stubborn! I… it can't be. I was a normal baby! This is Pepper and Tony's kid, A.K.A. NOT NORMAL!"

_"Says, who, James?"_ Roberta said, her amusement with the situation evident in her tone of voice. _"You used to do this all the time, too. You'd cry and cry for hours and nothing we ever did made it better for you until we realized that you just wanted to see other babies."_

"I, what?"

_"Wanted to see other babies. It's weird and that's why I remember it. We got some videos that showed other babies playing and such and we would play them on TV for you and in minutes you'd calm down and fall asleep."_

Happy's face of shock did not sit well with Rhodey. "Seriously, dude? You needed to see other babies to feel better about yourself? What was wrong with you?"

"Shut up, Happy!"

_"Honey, don't be rude now. It's not Harold's fault that you were a weird baby."_

"Mom, that's enough!" Rhodey said and Roberta chuckled, almost able to see her son's current embarrassment. "I WASN'T a weird baby!"

_"Oh, alright, James,"_ Roberta conceded. _"But you should at least give it a try. You've got nothing to lose."_

"But, Mom… that… how… _Where_ are even going to find baby videos right now? It's almost eleven at night!"

"Online?" Happy offered with a shrug.

_"That's a good idea,"_ Roberta began. _"Or you could stream some of your own videos we recorded of you."_

"Stream? From where? We're at the penthouse."

_"Pepper should have the copies, digital ones. She helped me transfer all of our family VHS and 8MM videos to digital files and even gave them menus and remastered them. She told me she stored the backups in the Stark servers."_

"OK," James said and walked over to the large television in the living room. He turned it on and loaded the shared drive storage of his friends' personal servers and began browsing for anything that resembled a folder of videos. "We'll try that and if that doesn't work, we'll call you again, Mom."

_ "That's alright, sweetie. I'll be up."_

"Thank, Mrs. Rhodes!" Happy said as he reached the cell phone and picked it up from the table.

_"You're welcome, boys. Bye now."_

"Bye." The jock ended the call and joined the Air Force cadet and after a few short arguments regarding what to click on the screen, they finally found what they were looking for. Rhodey selected the first video on the list and while it loaded, Happy picked up the high-chair with a crying baby still sitting in it and then deposited in front of the screen.

The first video showed a baby Rhodey crying in a similar fashion as baby James currently was, but seconds later and once the video of babies playing was shown on television in the video, James Rhodes calmed down. Baby Rhodes then began giggling every now and then and eventually became quiet as his eyes were glued to the babies on the screen.

James Stark's sobbing slowly reduced and just as he had just watched baby Rhodey do so, he began admiring the other babies on the screen of the screen in the living room and eventually completely calmed down as well. A sniffling was heard here and there, but it was not at all the beginning of another temper tantrum on the baby's behalf.

"I'll be damned," Rhodey said, not even bothering to bleep out his expletive in his shock. "Mom was right."

"Maybe he just misses Tony and Pepper," Happy reasoned. "And seeing other babies makes him feel as if he's not the only baby in the world."

"I don't know what it is," Rhodey began and followed Happy to sit on the couch, right behind the baby. "In fact, I don't care what it is as long as it works."

"No shit," Happy said and sighed in relief when the ringing in his ears began to diminish. The two grown men watched the entire video and once it ended, Rhodey scrambled to the television to load another one before baby James began crying again. It took him half a second to find the next one but he was able to play it before the new tears in baby James' blue eyes became full-blown cries again.

"This video is longer," Rhodey said and stood up. "I think I'm going to make myself something to eat. I'm hungry."

"Dude, they have cookies!" Happy replied and shot up from the couch to follow Rhodey to the kitchen. "Pepper made a fresh batch last night and I think they're probably still very good."

"Well, we're gonna eat them and then –"

_"Oh, I can give it to you, if you give it to me right now,"_ the seemingly out-of-place yet provocative statement coming from a familiar female voice on the television made both men stop in their tracks. They took a moment to silently stare at each other before they dared to look back at the television screen and gasped.

The video of baby Rhodey entertaining himself with his new toys was no longer playing and instead the obvious scene of explicit foreplay was playing on the screen.

"What the…!" Rhodey could not even finish his statement.

"Did Tony and Pepper make a sex tape?" Happy asked, a little bit too loudly and excited for Rhodey's taste. "I didn't know they had it in them!"

"I," Rhodey gulped when the voice spoke again. "I don't think that's them."

They both ran back to the television and stared in disbelief as the woman and man on screen started going at it and it took them a few seconds to do two things: 1) cover the baby's eyes despite his dislike of being touched by strangers; and, 2) realize that what they were watching was a cheaply-made porn video which starred the one and only Roberta Rhodes.

xxxXXXxxx

"Wow! You look much more stunning in person."

Pepper was visibly startled by the _male _voice she had just heard near her while she washed her hands and for a moment she wondered if she herself were in the wrong place. However, when she remembered that when she had walked in she had seen other women inside, she instantly recognized that it was not her who was in the wrong place.

She slowly turned her head towards the door and it was then that she realized that she was no longer alone in the bathroom. She remained calm and confused despite the looks she was receiving from the man standing before her as she pulled a paper towel from the dispenser and dried her hands with it before throwing it into the trash.

"Uhm, you do know this is the ladies bathroom, right?"

"Even confused you look hot, Pepper," the man said, completely ignoring her question and then began slowly approaching her, taking his time to reach his target. He knew that he had all the time in the world to accomplish his mission as he had locked the door on his way in and had hung the "out of service," sign on the doorknob. He doubted that anyone would disturb them for a while.

"Do I know you?" The redhead asked and instinctively took a step back with every step he took towards her. "I don't think I do. And you really shouldn't be here."

"You don't remember me?" He asked with a hint of disappointment and the stench of alcohol hit her face, nearly making her gag. "That's a shame. I remember you. Very well, in fact, Pepper."

By the time she became aware that the man had cornered her, it was too late for her to move out of the way. Her back hit the cold tiled wall of the room and it was at this instant that she resorted to actually _pushing_ the man away from her. "Look, you're totally in my personal bubble right now. Back off, whoever you are. I don't want to hurt you."

The man snickered and tried to run the back of his hand down her face but she quickly slapped it away. "Still feisty as ever, Potts. Glad that hasn't changed."

"Who the _hell _are you?" She asked again and pressed her hands against his chest to try and sway him, but despite the level of intoxication he had in him, he did not budge.

"You really don't remember me, do you? It's me: Kevin Kowalowski."

"Who?"

"Kevin Kowalowski, from English class at the Tomorrow Academy."

Pepper tilted her head to the side and observed the man's face with curiosity as she recalled the memory Kevin had just brought back for her.

_"Hey, Pepper, here are your books," the guy next to her said but when Pepper did not attempt to grab them, the boy continued to speak. "Or, I can carry them for you to class. Would you like that?"_

_ But Pepper did not respond immediately, her eyes locked onto Tony's stunned ones. She finally regained her senses, looked away from Tony and closed her mouth. She then gave the confused boy next to her the brightest smile she could muster and nodded to him. "Yes, that'd be really nice of you. What's your name again?"_

_ "Kevin," he said._

_ "Kevin," she repeated with a tilt of her head. "Don't we have first period together?"_

_ "Yeah, English class. So, wanna head there?"_

_ "Yes, I would," Pepper responded and walked next to the charming boy on their way to class. _

"Kevin?" Pepper finally said. "It's a surprise to see you here," she added and then slightly pushed him away from her so that she could take a step to the side and freed herself from his towering form. "But still, you shouldn't be here."

Without waiting for a response from him, she began walking towards the door but she did not make it far when Kevin grabbed her by her arm, swung her back to the wall and pinned her between it and himself by digging his fingers into her upper arms.

"Where do you think you're going?" He snarled. "We're not done talking."

"And what the hell do you think you're doing?" She asked and tried unsuccessfully to shake herself free from his grip. "Let me go or you're going to regret it."

Kevin scoffed. "Regret it, how? Are you going to scream? No one can hear us here. The music is VERY loud."

"What makes you think I need help to put you in your place?"

"Confident, aren't we?" He asked and pressed his body against hers and with disgust she realized just how_ pleased_ he was to see her. "Let's see how much of that is all talk and how much of it is action."

"Don't say I didn't warn you," she said before he forced his lips on hers.

xxxXXXxxx

The redhead practically ran towards the table she had left minutes ago to find Tony still eating the large sundae. The inventor frowned at her rushed demeanor, stared at her up and down, and then spoke.

"What took you so long, babe? Are you OK?"

Pepper shook her head vehemently and grabbed Tony by his arm, urging him to stand up from his chair. "We gotta go, Tony! Like, NOW!"

"What? Why? What did you do in the bathroom?"

"I'll," she held back a chuckle. "I'll tell you on the way out. Let's go!"

"OK," he said and did as told but not without making sure he took the sundae with him. When Pepper's eyebrows shot up in a questioning manner, he shrugged and continued to eat. "What? It's very good!"

"Fine! Take it, but let's go."

Tony threw a few bills on the table and followed his wife towards the door, and as the couple walked by next to the bouncers, Pepper snapped her fingers and directed her words toward one of the club's employees. "Hey, uhm, Rudy, was it?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"I think you should know that we're leaving because a very, very, VERY drunk man just walked into the ladies bathroom when I was there and stripped naked. I just made it out when he tripped on his pants but it was very uncomfortable. And, he's still there, by the way."

Tony almost dropped his sundae at hearing her words and it took a glare, a shake of the head and a discreet tug on her part to stop the blue-eyed boy from dashing back inside the club to beat the living crud out of the man that had harassed his wife. The bouncers did not seem pleased with the information either, and after apologizing to the power couple the employees made sure that security and the local PD was called.

Pepper accepted the men's apologies and then all but dragged Tony out of the hall that led to the club and pulled him with her into the elevator that would take them down to the basement to find their vehicle. The angry stare and the dumped sundae in the nearest trashcan as they exited the elevator and entered the car garage of the hotel was all that Pepper needed to see to know that Tony was fuming.

"What the hell, Pepper?" He grabbed her by her arm, stopping her walk towards their car. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because _you_ can't get into trouble again or S.H.I.E.L.D. will take you back in, and because _I _can take care of a drunken guy with my eyes closed."

The mention of returning to confinement somewhat calmed his anger but he then shook his head and followed her towards the vehicle. He used Extremis to start the car, and as he opened the passenger's door for her to go inside, he continued his angry bout. "That's bullshit, Pepper. What if he had done something to you? S.H.I.E.L.D. can't blame me for defending my wife."

"Tony, just get in the car. Please."

The inventor groaned and rolled his eyes, but when he remembered that it was still her birthday he lifted his hands in a placating gesture. He then closed the door, walked around the front of the car and got inside the driver's seat, and as he began driving them out of the parking spot and to their home, he could not help to express how he felt about the situation he had just overheard.

"Pepper, look, I… Who was it? I mean, are you OK? I… I should've gone to check up on you. I… S.H.I.E.L.D.'s arrangement shouldn't leave you vulnerable. Not when I'm perfectly capable of protecting you, with or without the suit. Why… why didn't you tell me? I don't understand."

The redhead took in a deep breath as she mentally weighed in the possible consequences of telling him in detail what had just happened to her while in the bathroom, and after determining that it was not worth any of their time, worry or effort, she decided to give him a condensed version of what she had endured minutes ago.

"Tony, it doesn't matter, really. All you need to know is that some drunken dude thought he could make a pass on me and I…" she again tried to hold back a laugh but she was not so successful this time around. "I tricked him into taking off his clothes… and…" she chuckled. "And I took his clothes and flush them down the toilet… or… at least tried…"

The genius was glad that he had reached a red light when his jaw dropped and his head snapped to the right to stare at his smiling wife. She was no longer making any effort to keep her laughter out of the equation, especially when the mental image of how she had tricked Kevin into stripping and then his appalled face when he realized she had toyed with him, returned to her mind.

"You… you did, what?"

"I made sure he never tries that again. And once the security people find him, he'll never show his face there ever again."

His shocked expression lasted for a few more seconds and as he pieced together what his ginger had done and after realizing she was truly unscathed, he soon joined her in her laughter. The traffic light finally changed to green and the car continued its trek, and they both continued to laugh on their way home as Pepper relayed to him some of the funniest parts of her adventure with the intoxicated man, always making sure to keep his identity a secret for the sake of her husband's freedom and the man's life.

Once they finally arrived at the penthouse it was past midnight and they could barely contain their snickers, but for the sake of their sleeping baby they tried their best to be as quiet as possible on their way in. Their eyes first landed on the sleeping forms of Rhodey and Happy on the couch of their living room, and despite the mess that was their living area, the redhead and the genius were just happy to know that nothing major had occurred during their time at the club.

Seeing that the baby was not around the premises, Pepper whispered to her husband that she would check up on baby James before they too went to bed, and as his ginger left the room and he headed to the kitchen for a bottle of cold water to quench his alcohol-induced thirst, a new bout of laughter almost escaped him when he pulled on the refrigerator door.

_Oh, my God! This is PRICELESS!_ Tony thought, and after a few trips back and forth between the refrigerator and the mess of cookies and milk on the coffee table that his two friends had left behind, the billionaire was more than certain that his suspicions were correct. It just did not get better than this: his baby had survived a night with Happy and Rhodey; Pepper had humiliated a guy in the worst way, and he had just found out that Rhodey had – probably unknowingly – done the one thing he had sworn he would never do: drink Pepper's breast milk.

_Pepper's gonna love this._

* * *

**A/N:** Hey, everyone! The end is near for this story and once all ten chapters and the Epilogue are posted, I'm going to take a break before I write the last two sequels. Life is kicking my butt right now and I may have to move to another state (or even country) so the updates may become very scarce. I will finish the story, though, don't worry about that. Our favorite couple deserves a happy ending and you guys deserve one too for following me all the way over here :)

Check out my profile to find Pepper's dress and an idea of what the baby may look like. I was looking for cute baby clothes and found one with a nice shirt like the one I described, ironically being worn by a baby that resembles my idea of James Howard Stark.


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Don't hurt me! *throws chapter at awaiting Faithful Readers holding pitchforks* Here is the next chapter! Please, don't hurt me!

**Guest Review Responses**

**Toni: Sweet chapter! Feel really bad for Rhodey though. Poor guy. So many revelations for him. We're getting closer to the end. Does that mean something bad is going to happen next chapter!? Something to do with that presence Gene felt in the bedroom!? Is this why baby James was crying?! What does SHEILD know!? Yeah, I'm feeling really anxious right now! Not sure if i want these questions answered! Ok...YES i would. Thanks for updating :) If taking a break is what you need to do then take one. Just as long as you promise to finish this when you can ;) **– Something bad in this chapter? Meh…maybe… but nothing compared to what happens NEXT story. Oh, crap! I've said too much.

**Muah: Another great chapter! Haha I can imagine Rhodey's reaction when he finds out that he drank Pepper's breast milk!** - LOLZ! I'm gonna hold on to that for later :)

**Guest: Hey!GREAT chapter as always and so funny too!that part where tony feeding james was so cute:-) and pepper's birthday!so romantic and simple.i love it!oh and that part where kevin appears and the way that pepper has handle him was so hilarious!and finally poor rhodey knowing that his mother had been a porn star and on the same day doing one thing that he sworn to never do!i really feel pity for him!i really enjoy reading this chapter and also knowing that its going to end soon make me feel sad:-( and take ur time,and dn't worry as ur faithful readers will always be there to support u,i really hope that ur problems will end soon!thanks miss starfire for these amazing chapters!_ **- AWW! *hugs until you turn blue* Thank you!

**Natalia: Estaria muy alegre si escribieras una historia Gepper** – It won't be for a while, but I hope whatever one-sided Gepper I can give you here is good for now :)

**Maleni: Yo digo que Gene y Pepper serian buena pareja ya que ambos tienen algunas cosas en común: vivieron la mayor parte de sus vidas sin su madre, sus padres no se amaban, ambos fueron criados por hombres que no eran sus padres y ninguno de ellos logro sacarle buena impresión a Rhodey. Yo apoyo la idea de ANA ya que si ningunotuvo una familia perfecta talvez deban iniciarla.** - Wow! Now I feel bad. I do hope I haven't wasted your time reading this story or have mislead you to think this will be a Gepper story. If I did, I'm truly sorry. I don't expect to write a Gepper story any time soon [probably in years :( ] but seeing how many ideas you and Ana have pointed out, you two oughta get together and write a Gepper story for us, huh? I think that'd be really cool ;)

* * *

**Chapter 7: September**

_"YOU GUYS KNEW AND DIDN'T TELL ME?"_

The only voice that had been heard in the living room of the Stark penthouse for the past hour had been of an angry James Rhodes calling from the Air Force Academy to Tony's pod. Even though Happy and Rhodey had made an agreement that they would never ever talk about the scandalous videos they had discovered the night they had babysat for their friends, Happy had asked Pepper if she was aware of what she had stored in their secure servers. The jock had not been able to contain himself and he just had to ask.

"Rhodey, are you even listening to yourself?" Pepper inquired after she had let Rhodey vent without interruption. Her fingers pinched the bridge of her nose and baby James sat on her lap. He was not certain why his parents seemed so upset at the moment, especially his mommy, but he was not going to let his daddy take him away from her until the redhead's spiking _aura _calmed down. "How the heck do you think that conversation would've even gone: _Hey, Rhodey, did you know your mom used to perform acts of a sexual nature in front of a camera?_ Really? Besides, your mom is like our mom, too. And we didn't care about it, you shouldn't either."

_"I'd preferred to have found out about it from you than the way I did!"_

"Rhodey, we're sorry we didn't tell you," Tony began. "But yelling at us is not going to change the fact that your mom used to be a porn star. Besides, what's the big deal? It's not like she does it anymore. Why are you so pissed off?"

_"What do you mean why am I so pissed off? Listen to yourself, Tony! What would you say if I came up to you today and told you: Hey, T! Did ya know your mom used to be a porn star?"_

"I'd probably say: _Jeez, Rhodey! Did you know my mom's dead_?"

The silence in the room and on the other end of the line lasted for about five seconds before Rhodey cleared his throat to continue his rant. _"Fine, OK. What about you, Pepper? What if I told you your mom was a porn star?"_

The redhead shrugged even though Rhodey could not see her. "I'd probably ask: which one? Because one of my moms is dead and the other left me when I was two."

The uncomfortable silence extended again and this time it was Tony who broke it. "Look, Rhodey, nobody else knows, alright? It's just you, Happy, Pepper and me. We aren't telling anyone, obviously, and I doubt Happy will. So let's just get over this and move on. Pepper has to leave for class and she can't stay here to listen to you mope around about the fact that your mom did what she had to do to provide for herself." Tony stopped briefly to let his words sink in and, after a reassuring nod from his wife, he took in a deep breath and continued. "In other words, GROW the EFF up!"

The couple held their breath as they waited for Rhodey to respond, but when all they heard was the sudden click of the end of the call, they both shook their heads in unison.

"I should've locked the damned files!" Pepper berated herself. "I should've just, I don't know, not kept those copies here."

Tony shook his head again and stood up from his chair. He then walked around the table and crouched before Pepper's sitting form. "Forget about it, Pep. He's just mad that we knew before he did. He'll get over it in no time."

"I know he'll get over it and if he wanted to stay mad at me, that's fine. Whatever. But he's your best friend and he's only mad at you because of me. I'm sorry, Tony."

The inventor smirked, got on his knees and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "And because he's my best friend I know he'll understand soon. Don't sweat it, babe. We've argued about worse things before and have made up, every time."

"I-I guess so," she said even though she still felt somewhat responsible for the latest misunderstanding between the two childhood friends. "Nothing I can do now, anyway, and I'm already late for class."

"You taking the suit?"

"Might as well," she said and stood up, baby in her arms, prompting the inventor to stand up with her. "Missing the first day of my last semester in college can't be a good sign."

"Just show up in the suit to the classroom and they'll forget all about it." He said with a shrug and then tried to take James from the redhead's arms but the baby refused to let go of his mom.

"What gives, Howie?" Tony asked, brows frowned, and again failed at pulling the baby from Pepper's arms. "Mommy has to leave."

The little boy simply clung even tighter to his mom's blouse.

"James, seriously," Tony said in a sterner voice. "It's not a choice, it's an order. Let go of your mom. Now."

The baby's eyebrows furrowed and his lip quivered when he realized his daddy was now becoming upset at him, but he did not want to leave his mom when he could _see_ and _feel_ that she was still troubled.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Pepper asked her son as she stared at his little watery eyes when Tony tried again to take him and the toddler whimpered. "Daddy's not mad at you. But I really do need to leave."

As if not convinced, James alternated between staring at his father and at his mother a few times, and after Pepper smiled at him, kissed his forehead and then rocked him a little to a short hum, he finally albeit reluctantly let go of his mom. Tony placed the baby against his hip and held him in position with his right arm so that he could make use of his left hand to rest it on Pepper's right cheek and gave her another kiss, this time on her lips.

"Be careful, Pepper," the genius told her with concern that he was not certain from where it had suddenly emanated in him, once he broke the quick kiss. His thumb briefly stroked her cheekbone while his eyes bore deeply into hers and he then pulled back completely. "I love you."

His tone of voice and current posture made her stomach flip and her chest constrict, feeling as if this was the first time she had ever heard him say the words. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, unable to find a non-clichéd response to his statement, and when nothing original came to her mind she simply threw herself at him, cupped his face in her hands and kissed him long and deeply. Baby James was not sure what was going on with his parents or why his mommy was smashing his daddy's face with hers, but suddenly his parents' auras immediately calmed down and so did his.

The sound of the loud and cheerful giggle made the couple's faces separate from each other to look down at their son. The little boy's fingers were clumsily clasped together and rested on his belly and the wide smile on his face was simply endearing. Tony frowned for a second and his head recoiled at not understanding why his son was so happy all of a sudden, and after Pepper realized why his smile seemed so familiar to her, she rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Oh, crap!" She began with a shake of the head, her hands still held on to Tony's face. "He's learned to use your charming smile, Mr. Stark. I can already hear hundreds of baby girls being swooned by this little rascal of yours."

"Well, he kinda does look like me," Tony said. "And I was a very charming baby."

"Oh, shut up, Tony!" She jested. "I don't want James to grow up knowing he can charm his way into a girl's pants."

"It's inevitable, babe. He's a Stark," Tony replied in a mocked resigned tone and then kissed her lips one last time. "It worked with you, right?" He added with a wink.

"Tony…"

"Kidding!" He quickly mended his statement although the redhead could see that he had not meant his disguised apology but she truly could not blame him for it. She herself had fallen for the Stark charm one too many times, and baby James was the best proof of such. "Now go, Pepper," he continued. "You're more than late now."

"Oh, shoot!" Pepper agreed as she stared down at her wristwatch and then ran toward the Rescue backpack lying by the entrance door. "I'll be back as soon as I'm done."

"I know. And we'll be here, watching TV, or asleep… or whatever it is that James feels like doing right now."

"Stick to the schedule, Tony." She said with a warning tone before the suit began to cover her entire body on her way to the balcony. She then stopped herself a foot before actually leaving the living room and gave her husband and son one last stare. "I mean it."

"OK. OK. Fine." Tony relented. "Sticking to the schedule, then. We're gonna eat now, aren't we, Howie?" The inventor asked his son and the baby giggled in response.

"You better! I gotta go. Bye, Jimmy! Bye, Tony!"

"Bye, Rescue!" Tony said as he waved James' hand for him. "Say goodbye to Mommy."

The repulsors of the suit taking off from the Stark Solutions penthouse drowned Pepper and Tony's amused chuckles that followed the giggle of baby James Stark. The two_ boys_ then remained quiet for a moment while Rescue became a dot in the skies and a second later Tony returned his full attention to his son.

"OK, Howie, it's lunch time. What do you want today? Disgusting apple or disgusting sweet potatoes?"

"Goo," baby James responded with a bubble of spit.

"Goo?" Tony asked as he walked towards the kitchen, baby in his arms. "What does 'goo' mean today?"

"Goo."

"Oh!" Tony said, shifted James to his right arm again and snapped the fingers on his left hand. "That 'goo'! Why didn't I think of that?"

"Goo," James insisted. "Goo! Goo!"

"Yes, goo. I get it," Tony began, as if he understood whatever his son was trying to communicate to him. "Let's get you ready, Mr. Goo."

The inventor maneuvered his grip on the baby until he was able to situate the high-chair where he wanted it to be in the living room. He then placed James in it, made sure that every strap was set in place to keep it steady and then walked back to the kitchen. From the pantry he took out three different kinds of baby food and placed them on the counter. He then walked over to the cabinets where the baby's dishware was kept and took out one of the plastic bowls and a spoon. Once he had the bowl and spoon in hand, he grabbed the three glass containers of baby food he had left on the counter and a bar stool, and returned to stand in front of his son.

"Alright, man, what's it gonna be today? Apple, peach, or sweet potatoes?" He asked the baby and sat on the stool so that they faced each other. He placed the spoon inside the empty bowl and the bowl on his lap and then displayed one of the bottles of food to James as he uncapped the container. "This is apple. Do you want apple?"

The blue-eyed boy knew that his son was too young to understand what he was being told or asked, but his research on this particular stage of child development had shown that it was the best time to start assigning names to objects. When he had initially read on the recommendations he had thought them to be stupid and he had not been able to picture himself following the instructions, but now that he was by himself with his son, the execution of the practice was coming out naturally.

"So, do you want apple?" Tony asked again and allowed James to sniff the opened bottle of food. When the baby's nose wrinkled and he pulled away, Tony covered the container again. "OK, no apple. How about peach? Do you want peach? This is peach."

The baby again repeated his motion of wrinkling his nose and pulling his head away from the smell of peach and the inventor again repeated his task of sealing off the container once more. "OK. Last one. Do you want sweet potatoes? This is sweet potatoes."

As opposed to the last two attempts, this time James not only did not pull away from the offered container but tried to lick the food as well. His motor skills prevented him from even reaching anything past his lips, but Tony read the message loud and clear.

"Sweet potatoes, huh? Good choice, Howie. This we can share."

Tony stood up from the stool with bowl, spoon and the three containers in hand and walked to the coffee table behind the high-chair. He left the two bottles of rejected food on the table and then proceeded to pour the contents of the bottle inside the bowl and when he returned to sit in front of his son and offered him the first spoon of the food, he noticed something strange was happening with James.

The baby's eyes were not on his father or on the food before him but on something else behind the billionaire. At first Tony believed that his son was just wondering if Pepper was going to appear through the front door as she always did when she returned home from work, but the genius immediately recognized that the look the baby had on his face was not the same one he usually wore when waiting for his mother's return. In fact, now that he thought about it more, he had never seen this look of captive attention on the toddler's face until now.

"What's going on, James? What are you looking at?"

The only response he got was of the baby's frowning brows.

Seeing that the food he had so readily wanted just a few seconds ago was not enough to entice the tot, Tony looked over his right shoulder in the general direction that James was staring at, but found nothing of interest. His eyes then quickly returned to his still dazed son as he purposefully shifted his body to the right to block the view of whatever it was that the baby was seeing that he could not.

"Hey, Howie, over here. It's chow time."

Baby James continued to ignore his father's words and even attempted to scoot over to the side or up to continue staring either over Tony's shoulder or away from his towering form. Tony's furrow deepened and he once again looked behind him to find that nothing had changed from seconds ago when he had first stared towards the door.

The inventor opened his mouth to speak and to try to catch his son's attention again but he was surprised to see that as quick as his attention had been stolen from him, the baby-blues of his son slowly returned to stare at his father once more as if they had never left his face at all.

_What was that all about?_ Tony thought to himself. _That was…odd._

"Then again," the inventor said aloud with a shake of the head to clear his thoughts. "You're mine and Pep's kid. You are odd by default. Aren't you, Howie?"

The baby spat more bubbles of joy to agree with his dad.

xxxXXXxxx

"Ghost." Happy Hogan said with determined finality, crossed his arms over his chest and nodded once to make his point. "The only logical explanation is that he saw a ghost."

Tony stared in disbelief at the jock that had made himself at home half an hour ago and he was certain that his face of incredulity looked somewhat amusing to his son who was staring attentively at his father's every move. The baby had not felt like taking a nap after lunch as he usually did and when he had seen that his babysitter of time-to-time had arrived, all opportunities of calling it quits disappeared from the table.

"Ghost?" Tony half repeated, half questioned. "The, uhm, the _logical_," Tony air-quoted the last word, "explanation is that my son saw a _ghost_?"

"It fits the description. He saw something and you didn't. So, he saw a ghost. It's logic, Stark. You should know about it."

"Do YOU know about it, Happy?" Tony retorted in an almost high-pitched voice. "How-how did you even jump to that conclusion other than not having another idea right away?"

"Hey, don't diss my conclusion," Happy began and stuck his nose up in the air. "There's lots of scientific documentaries where this kind of phenomena has been recorded."

Tony raised a single brow and tilted his head to the left and a second later Happy's confident pose immediately slouched.

"OK, fine, maybe they weren't documentaries."

"What were they, then? Ghost hunting shows?"

Happy's eyes shifted left and right. "Maybe."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Tony said and briefly pinched the bridge of his nose, a habit he had picked up from his redhead. "I think my idea of having him examined for issues is better than your idea that my kid is some kind of psychic that can 'see dead people'."

"What? Like, a doctor? _Hello_, Tony! A doctor can't tell if Jimmy sees dead people!"

Tony's right eye twitched and for a moment he wished that Rhodey was neither away nor mad at him. "I'm aware of that, Happy. I meant to say that maybe Howie has something medically wrong with him."

"Or he can see dead people."

Tony's palm hit his face and Happy rolled his eyes, not able to grasp why the inventor did not believe his suggestions. "Look, Tony, babies display this behavior all the time –"

"According to your ghost hunting shows?"

"According to scientific information."

"You mean pseudo-science. Science doesn't support the claim that anyone, not even babies, can see ghosts. We don't even know if ghosts exist and even if they did, why the heck or who the heck would be haunting my home?"

"That's easy! Why the heck: to bother you or hurt you. Who the heck: anyone you've killed and wants revenge. It's the perfect crime, actually, if you think about it, since they're already ghosts and you can't kill them or defend yourself from them."

"Happy, that's… " He rubbed the back of his neck with his right hand while making sure his left hand helped James steady himself on his father's lap. "That… uhm… is… err… well…."

"See?" Happy said and his confidence returned. "You've helped a _lot _of people check out of here, right? I mean, not that I'm calling you out on it or anything, but if I were one of those people you've killed and I found out I could get back at you by haunting your house, I'd totally do it."

"I-I… it… it hasn't been _that_ many."

"More than the average person, yeah. Haven't you taken out, like, three people in almost four years?" He displayed the total number of casualties in his right hand. "In fact, it's kinda due by now, right? Who are you killing this year?"

Tony was visibly taken aback by the offhand way in which Happy was asking the question and making his statement even though the inventor was very aware that he and Pepper had shared with the jock the details of their troubles in the past. It was not as if what he had done was a secret to his friends and family, but he was not under the impression that he was viewed as a serial killer by someone as close to him as Happy was.

Did his other friends and family also see him as a loose cannon? Was this why Gene had wanted him out of the redhead's life? Did he really pose a threat to his family, just like Nick Fury had rubbed in his face? He sincerely trusted that this was not the case. He hoped and prayed that Nick Fury was wrong.

"It… it hasn't been THREE people…" Tony muttered, trying to defend himself once the shock wore off. "It's been only TWO… and… and it was justified, and-and it's not a yearly RITUAL, Happy. I'm not killing anyone this year… or the next… or at all again if I don't have to. I can't go back to the Helicarrier. I can't leave Pepper and Howie alone again. I won't do it. I…"

Tony's voice trailed and his eyes landed on his son. The baby was staring back at him, in that way that Pepper had told her husband seemed as if James was more cognizant than they were mindful of, and for a second Tony felt as if his son was somehow telling him that he understood what he had done – that he did not judge him at all. Somehow, and for an unknown reason, Tony felt as if James completely understood what the inventor had done for his family's lives even before he had been born and even before he had known he was his son; it was as if the little boy could readily understand every emotion and word he was uttering and feeling right now.

"They-they're all I have, Happy." Tony continued and pressed the baby to his chest. "They need me – and I need them. Both of them."

Happy's shoulders slouched again and his head hung. "Dude, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to come out sounding like it did. I just... you… you aren't a bad person. I just… I guess I've been watching too much TV. And, well, didn't Justin Hammer use to own this place? And weren't he and his cousin kinda, ya know… psychos? Who knows who the heck he killed off in life, right? Man, it could be that Mr. Fixit guy you told me about. Didn't he die here?"

"It's Mr. Fix," Tony corrected. "And he didn't _die_-die… he was just… you know, in a computer. He's gone."

"How do you know that?" Happy asked with a shrug. "He was in a computer and you have computers everywhere in here, right? I mean, that's what you do for a living, right? Inventions with computers."

Suddenly, Happy's ghost suggestion was not as silly as it had initially sounded. Suddenly, the idea of a silent observer – an intruder – was not as out there as he had first thought it to be. Maybe it was not really a ghost or not even Mr. Fix, but something or someone had caught the attention of his son and that was enough to place the inventor on high alert. The bounty was still present and no one had been able to figure who had set the price on their heads, and just because everything seemed to be running smoothly for all of them, it did not necessarily mean that no threat was waiting for the best moment to show its ugly head. It had happened before. It could happen again.

No. He could not let his guard down again. He could not afford to ignore the warning signs, as ridiculous or insignificant as they were. He had done so in the past. He had ignored his gut feeling before, and the results of doing so had almost cost him living the life he currently had. He could not let it break him again.

"You know, Happy," the blue-eyed boy began. "I think that maybe I should… I should… I…" His voice again trailed, but this time it was accompanied by the brief furrowing of his brows, which was then followed by the widening of his eyes. His jaw almost hit the ground and had he not already been sitting down and had he not had his son on his lap, he would have needed something to hold onto to prevent an ugly fall.

His greatest fear had just come true. His worst nightmare was now a reality. The one situation he had wished would never transpire was occurring right now, this very moment, and there was almost nothing he could do about it… for her… almost…

"Pepper," Tony's tone of voice was no longer of the young, carefree billionaire; it was of the hero that still dwelled inside. It was of the man that had failed to protect his loved ones in the past and knew first-hand the cost of not being somewhere on time. "Happy... I… it's… it's Pepper…"

"What?" Happy asked and jumped to his feet. "Tony, what are you saying? What's wrong with Pepper?"

"Her suit. Her suit just went online," he responded and then looked up to stare at the bodyguard readying himself to do his job. "It's in defense mode. Level 5."

xxxXXXxxx

She had thought it to be just another simple mission – one that she could handle on her own. She had not thought much about the sudden intrusion, of the unsuspected presence near her when she was set to go back home after class. She knew she could take on Whiplash all by herself. She had been certain that Tony's interference was not required – even if he _had_ been able to do something for her without risking being arrested again. She no longer feared the robotic man that had attempted to kill her father and then her. She no longer felt inadequate to handle the minor threat she felt he posed. She had taken on worse villains before. She had survived worse dangers.

Sadly, her assumption had been wrong.

Whiplash had only been the opening act – the bait. The real show had presented itself minutes after Whiplash had appeared before her. The real show had left her scared and with no safe place to go. She could not go home – they would follow her. She could not fight them all – they were too much for just her. S.H.I.E.L.D. was nowhere near. Tony could not interfere. Rhodey was not even in town. She was alone.

Very, very, VERY alone.

_Please, please, PLEASE work._

Without setting him up for further incarceration, there were only a couple of ways in which she could relay to her husband the trouble she was in. The media was yet to arrive so she knew that option was shot, so her only choice had been to activate her suit at the highest threat level possible. Tony could not be Iron Man anymore, but he could also not separate from his suits. His suits and his inventions were always going to be a part of him, whether he wanted it or not, as long as Extremis was still present in him.

What good it did for her that Tony knew she was fighting AND losing the battle, she was not sure. But she had to let him know that she needed help. That he needed to find a way to help her out, to communicate with her, even if all he could do afterwards was sit and watch.

Sit and watch as Whiplash, Titanium Man, and the Crimson Dynamo tore her to pieces, one limb at a time.

_Please, don't suit up, Tony. Please, don't suit up._

She knew her vitals were racing and that he was going to freak out about it the moment he connected with her, but she could not make herself remain calm. It was a good thing that the suit covered her entire body and face so that she at least did not give the pleasure of showing her terrified expression to the three enemies she was currently fighting on her own. But she was terrified. She was more scared than she had ever been before.

In all fairness, however, she had so far lasted longer than she had thought she would. She only had to keep avoiding their attacks and attacking only when needed for a few more minutes, as she knew Tony would know the moment she turned on the suit to the highest level of defensive attacks that she needed assistance. She needed to play defense mode for now. Offensive attacks were going to lead her nowhere.

"**We can do this all day, Pepper**," Whiplash snarled in his disturbingly raspy voice. "**But we'd rather not. We have a deadline to meet and our boss needs you dead sooner rather than later."**

"Who are you working for?" Rescue asked, her body flying above the three men standing on the ground. "Who sent you here?"

"We can't tell ya, girl," Unicorn, who was piloting the Titanium Man armor, replied. "We'll get killed if we do."

"Well, it has to be AIM," Pepper said, both wanting to buy time and trying to find out more about the bounty. Clearly, Rhona had been correct when she had relayed to the inventor that everyone was in on it and the reward had to be high enough for someone like Unicorn and the Black Knight – who was piloting the Crimson Dynamo – to even attempt to eliminate Iron Man and his family. It had been tried before, time and time again, and so far no one had succeeded, and the enemies they had defeated so far were much more powerful and cunning than _Sir Talks-a-Lot _and the reject of the Maggia group.

"AIM sent you here," Pepper continued. "There's nobody else that could've pieced you back together, Whiplash. Tony left nothing of you last time you tried to hurt us. Or at least nothing that worked."

"**Oh, I remember that encounter,"** Whiplash began. "**But our goal was not to kill any of you then. This time, however…**"

He let his voice trail and finished his sentence by taking out his whips, aiming them at her armored legs and slamming her down to the ground with them. The moment she landed on her back on the asphalted streets, the other two armors approached her and soon she found herself trying to fight her way back to the air while all three armors repeatedly stomped, kicked, punched and blasted her without mercy. Flashbacks of her time fighting E-Zombies in the Helicarrier returned to her, but this time there was no Scott Summers around to help her.

"AH!" She yelled in pain when she felt a kick of the Crimson Dynamo dent her armor into her back. She haphazardly responded to their attacks by activating the shields but the protection did not last long when Titanium Man took them down with no problem with a laser she had not known could cancel out the force fields. Seeing her attempt failed, she then turned around in place so that she was now facing up, rerouted all her power to the unibeam and hand repulsors and then shot them at full-force toward the three attackers.

The impact succeeded in liberating her from their grip but it also left her with only half of the battery life in the suit. Struggling and dazed, she rose to all fours and slowly propelled herself into the air using the boot repulsors. She could practically feel the bruises forming in her back and in other parts of her body but she knew that she had no time to dwell on the pain at the moment.

Her eyes followed the sluggishly recovering forms of the three armors, and when Whiplash and Titanium Man decided to take the fight to the skies, she knew her tactic of evading them was no longer going to work.

"Get over here!" Unicorn shouted from inside Titanium Man and flew towards her. The redhead missed the pouncing attack by a hair but her upper body was then encircled from behind by Whiplash who was ready for her response.

"**I expected you to fight,"** Whiplash muttered. "**It makes it that much more pleasurable to kill you.**"

"Let me go!" Pepper demanded as she thrashed to try to release herself. "This suit can explode on command and I _will_ activate the self-destruct feature if you don't let me go, right now!"

"You're bluffing," Titanium Man said, held her head in his large hand and put enough pressure on it to make her close her eyes in pain. "You won't leave your son without a mother. Did you think we didn't know all about you getting knocked up by Tony Stark? You won't do it."

Despite the increasing pain in her head caused by Titanium Man's grip and the lack of oxygen in her lungs caused by Whiplash's hold on her, she refused to let the ache show through her voice. "And what exactly do you think is going to happen to you once you kill me? Do you really think Tony's just going to let you off the hook?"

"**He won't be alive long enough to do anything after we're done with you,**" Whiplash retorted. "**Besides, shouldn't he be here by now? Where is he? Did he abandon you already?**"

"That's none of your business!" Pepper shouted even though the effort made her lungs burn. She was starting to feel dizzy due to lack of air and her vision was becoming impaired as well, but she was not going to let her distress show. "Now, I'm warning you for the last time. Let me go or I'll take you both with me!"

The only response she got from the duo was an increase in the hold they had on her. She felt her eyes starting to close and as she was about to start the sequence to blow up the suit, the face of her blue-eyed boy appeared on the helmet's HUD.

"_Pepper! Pepper!"_

"Tony?" She mumbled, eyes half closed. "Tony… it's… don't… don't come here. Please… don't suit up."

"_Are you hurt? Pepper, are you injured?"_

"T-Ton-n-ny…"

_"Pepper! Pepper, wake up! WAKE UP!"_

"Can't breathe… I can't…"

_ "PEPPER!"_

xxxXXXxxx

"Hey, girl, are you still alive?" Titanium Man asked, removed his hand from her head and was surprised to see it bob to the front. Whiplash did not release her, however, and instead tightened his clutch on her. "Hey, I think she's passed out."

"**Don't be a fool,**" Whiplash said. "**She's tricking us. She's just pretending so we let her go.**"

"I-I don't know," Unicorn began and stared at her up and down, the three of them still in the air. "I know this one and she doesn't stop talking. Never. EVER. She's, like, a fucking chatterbox."

"**Well, pretending or not, we have a job to do. So let's do it.**"

"Alright," Titanium Man said and took out the chainsaw-like weapon hidden in his left armored hand. The green glowing, energy blade was sharp enough to cut through almost anything and since the bounty required the head to be delivered as proof that the redhead had been taken care of, it was going to be the only way to detach it from her body.

"Keep her steady," Unicorn said and aimed the blade to the neck of the armor. "I don't want blood splashing all over the place."

"**Just shut up and do it,**" Whiplash ordered. "**I don't know what's taking Iron Man so long to come rescue his woman, so we better hurry it up.**"

"Stop your whining," Unicorn spat, tired of listening to the veteran of crime complain, but still began his task. The screeching sound of the energy blade scratching against Rescue's suit was skin-crawling, but the noise did not last long. In the blink of an eye, Whiplash saw nothing but red in front of him and when the flash of red disappeared, what he saw was not what he was expecting.

"**What in the…**"

Titanium Man was no longer flying before him and Pepper's neck was still intact. The robotic man then looked down to the ground where Crimson Dynamo had been standing just moments ago and saw the reason why Rescue's head was still attached to her body.

"**Ah! There you are,**" Whiplash whispered as he watched the Hulkbuster armor stand above Titanium Man while its hand repulsors aimed towards the incoming Crimson Dynamo. "**Took you long enough, but you're still too late.**"

Before any other attempt at rescuing the female hero could be made, Whiplash took it upon himself to finish the deed. The ginger was still unconscious to the world and did not feel when the adamantium-made whips surrounded her neck. Whiplash then pulled on the whips to tighten his grip and as he was about to increase the hold in opposite directions to decapitate the girl, something behind him made him stop in his tracks.

And made him stop living, too.

The part-robot, part-human head exploded into a million pieces shortly before the rest of the body plummeted to the ground and had the Mandarin not been flying right behind the man he had just killed, Rescue would have fallen to the ground as well. Instead, she fell into his arms.

"Pepper," The Mandarin called her name and shook her lightly. "Pepper, are you OK?"

Gene frowned when there was no response, physical or otherwise, coming from the ginger but he was not actually worried about her health. His scans showed that she was alright – for the most part – sans the bruises he could already see through the armor. Tony Stark would have much to tell Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. since they had failed to keep their end of the deal: protecting Pepper and backing up Rescue since Iron Man was no longer around.

"Way to go, Gene KHAN!"

Inside his armor, Gene's forehead vein popped. It had been years since he had left the Tomorrow Academy and yet Happy Hogan insisted on mocking his name. He was the fucking Mandarin, the strongest being on the entire planet: why did he have to put up with someone so beneath him? The things he did for his redheaded friend.

"Is Pepper OK?" Happy asked from inside the Hulkbuster armor, his left foot still pressed against Titanium Man's neck and his right foot pressed onto his chest to keep him on the ground. Crimson Dynamo was on its back a few feet away from them, courtesy of one of the Hulkbuster's punches and repulsor attacks.

"She will be," Mandarin responded and slowly lowered himself and the redhead in his arms to stand next to their enemies. "But these two won't be."

"I surrender!" Unicorn desperately screamed from inside Titanium Man, remembering all too well his time of captivity while in the Mandarin's clutches years ago. "I didn't even want to do this, I swear!"

"That's not what it looked like to us from where we were standing," Gene replied. "Your death won't be as swift as the other fool. I promise you that."

"NO! PLEASE! I-I'LL TALK! I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING!"

"WHOA! Incoming!" Happy said and then erected the shield around himself when he saw the arriving attack from the now standing Crimson Dynamo. When the laser did not reach its target, the Black Knight aimed his next attack towards Gene Khan, mistakenly thinking that he would have no way of defending himself since his arms were busy carrying Rescue. The Mandarin simply erected a force field of his own without the need to move an inch and when the attack bounced back to hit the Dynamo square in the chest, Gene scoffed.

"You really want to do this? Didn't you see what I just did to the other one?"

"Yeah, don't be an idiot." Happy said in support. "'Cuz it's not just him and me. There are about fifty other Iron Man suits on their way right now. Do you really think you can take on all of us, bitch? I'm game if you are!"

The Black Knight had no way to verbally communicate his response but when the Dynamo was shut down and the front of it opened to reveal the mute man raising his arms in defeat, Happy and Gene knew their job was done.

"Well, that sucks," Happy moaned. "I was ready to kick some ass!"

"Surrender has never stopped me from disposing of those who deserve it," Gene said and as he was readying himself to finish off the Black Knight and Unicorn, Tony's voice resounded from the Hulkbuster's HUD system.

_"Gene, let it go. Just bring Pepper back here, please."_

"Have you lost your nerve, Stark?" Gene asked. "These men had every intention of killing her. They can't be left unpunished."

_"Yeah, well,"_ Tony began. _"So did Rhona and S.H.I.E.L.D. locked me up for it."_

"We are not the same. I'm the Mandarin and you're just a man. Nick Fury and his minions can't touch me. No one can."

_"Whatever, Gene, just come back already, OK? Pepper is unconscious but I see she's gonna need some patching up. I already called the doctors on duty and they're on their way up here."_

"Fine!" Gene said. "Where should I take these two?"

_"Take them to Nick and shove them up his ass. He was supposed to answer his goddamned phone if we sent him a 911."_ Tony answered_. "Happy can bring Pepper back home."_

"On it," Happy said, walked off Titanium Man – but not without kicking him in the helmet – and then took Rescue from Gene. "Are you coming to the tower, Gene KHAN?"

Gene's only response was to groan before he disappeared with Crimson Dynamo, Black Knight, Titanium Man and Unicorn in tow.

"Friendly as ever, Gene KHAN," Happy said, knowing that somehow, somewhere, the Mandarin had heard him and was probably rolling his eyes and moaning in anger some more.

xxxXXXxxx

After only five months since he had been born, Gene got to finally meet his _nephew_ and so far the encounter was nothing how he had expected it go. It had been unexpected and forced and even though he was not fond of babies in general, there was something about the way this child was staring back at him that had him, the Great Gene Khan, slightly on edge.

_It's as if he understands why I'm here. It's as if he knows what's going on. _Gene had thought the moment he had realized he was being keenly observed by the boy who he was supposed to be watching. _It's as if he can sense it, somehow._

Happy was yet to come back from storing away the Hulkbuster armor and Tony was inside his bedroom while the doctors tended to the ginger resting on their bed. Dropping off the idiots who had hurt Pepper and giving a piece of his mind – and issuing a threat – to Nick Fury had not taken him long, but because he had returned sooner than expected, he was now _stuck _watching over baby James Howard Stark.

Or maybe it was the baby who was stuck watching Gene.

_I wonder if he… I wonder if he can…_

Gene's thoughts were interrupted when the doors of the master bedroom opened to reveal a handful of doctors followed by Tony Stark himself. The group exchanged words in hushed voices for a moment so as not to disturb the highly sedated girl and, after a few handshakes and pleasantries, the inventor walked the medics to the front door.

Gene silently watched when, the instant after the door locked after them, Tony pressed his left palm against the wall and rested his body weight into his left arm, his head hanging. He heard him take a deep, calming breath and after another long exhale of relief and a shake of the head, the blue-eyed boy walked over to the living room where Gene had been sitting since his arrival.

The two men remained silent for a minute, each caught in their own thoughts, and after Tony rubbed his face with his hands and rested his back against the couch, he effectively ended the silence by uttering two simple yet loaded words.

"Thank you." He said with deep honesty as his eyes stared in the direction of the room where the redhead was to rest for the next week or so.

Gene stared at the genius with his typical face of contempt and even though he thought about clarifying to him that the reason he had helped Pepper had been for her sake and not for the inventor's, he quickly realized that Tony perhaps already knew this to be the case. They were not on actual speaking terms ever since he had restored his memories after the baby had been born, and this was the first time they were forced to be in the same room together.

Needless to say, Gene could think of a billion things that he would have preferred to be doing at the moment than to be in the company of a man he was not sure what to call.

"Happy not back yet?" Tony asked even though he already knew the answer to his own question but did so anyway as a means to start the difficult conversation he wanted to have with his former friend.

"Do you hear anyone making stupid comments?" Gene spat. "Of course he's not back, Stark. You can't miss the presence of that idiot."

"That idiot is my friend, Mandarin. A real friend. Not like the one you pretended to be."

"Oh, yes," Gene scoffed. "I must be a terrible friend for saving your wife's life. Again."

Tony looked down at his lap and immediately lifted his arms in a surrendering gesture. This was not the best way to ask a favor from Gene Khan.

"Point taken," Tony said with a shrug. "And, well, I need your help. Again."

"My help?" Gene inquired and crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm not erasing anyone's memories again, Stark."

"I know," Tony replied. "That's not it. It's… it's not even a favor. It's more, like, a promise. I need you to make me a promise."

Gene narrowed his eyes but was intrigued enough by the genius' posture to allow Tony to present his case, whatever it ended up being. "Go on."

Tony scratched the side of his head, rested his elbows on his knees and curved his back. He then stole a quick glance at his son, thanked the heavens that he was too young to understand what was happening and what he was saying, returned his eyes to the coffee table before him and spoke again.

"I'm dying."

Gene's arms slowly uncrossed at hearing the grave statement, although he was careful not to show his true shock on his face. "What?"

"I…" Tony rubbed his forehead with his right hand. "I-I think I am. I'm almost certain that I am."

"Either you are or you aren't. Which one is it?"

"I don't know," Tony admitted. "But something's been happening to me for a few years now and... and it's coming back again."

"You're not making any sense."

"Because it doesn't make sense!" Tony said and threw his arms in the air. "When S.H.I.E.L.D. had me locked up, they ran some tests on me and gave me some treatment for it. Extremis… Extremis is evolving," he stared at his left palm as if it held all the answers in the world. "But I don't think I'm evolving with it."

"What makes you think you're dying?"

Tony looked up and stared Gene directly in his eyes and something in the way he said the next words made the Mandarin foresee what Tony was about to ask of him – what the promise he was going to be asked to keep was going to be.

"When I found out – when I _felt_ Rescue's armor going into Level 5, I could hardly make a connection with it. I couldn't connect to the HUD. I couldn't call on my other armors. I couldn't hack into the Dynamo or Titanium Man."

"And that makes you think you're dying? It could be a glitch."

Tony shook his head. "It's not a glitch. I didn't know it was happening until now. Until I needed Extremis to save Pepper. After you and Happy helped her and before Happy came back, I ran some quick tests on me. My DNA is changing, it's… it's _separating_ itself from Extremis. I didn't even know that could happen."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that my body has begun rejecting the virus," Tony continued, trying to place in simplest terms what he had seen. "It means it'll start seeing Extremis as an invader. It means…"

"It means you're fighting an infection you can't control." Gene said.

"Or cure." The inventor added with a sigh and looked down.

Silence befell them once more and they lost themselves in their thoughts again. Tony continued to stare at the coffee table although his eyes showed that his mind had wandered off and Gene's eyes looked in the direction of the master bedroom doors.

_This is not fair_, Gene thought. _This is not what she deserves._

He opened his mouth to express his thoughts in the matter to the inventor but a familiar feeling of dread made him freeze up instead. He swallowed hard when he felt a chill run down his spine and his skin crawl but he forced himself to stealthily scan the surroundings for the source of the evil energy in the air.

The energy seemed to be widespread and appeared to not have a definite origin, but when his eyes landed by accident on the baby sitting in his high-chair in front of him, he realized that he was not the only one feeling the presence in the room. In fact, it appeared to him as if there was more than just _feeling_ on the baby's part since his narrowed eyes were glued to something in the distance by the entrance of the penthouse.

Gene stared in the same direction for a moment but did not see anything other than Tony's completely disconnected from the world form, still keeping to himself on the couch. Pepper was still asleep and would be for a while and Happy was nowhere near the floor. There were no noises, no toys or any other shiny objects that could have been of interest to him. There was no reason for the child's attention to be captivated by apparent emptiness unless…

_Unless there is something or someone there. Someone in the room with us._

The noise of the baby bottle being pulled out of his tiny mouth was heard and he held onto it in his left hand while his head and eyes followed something making its way around the room. Gene alternated between looking at the baby's moves and at whatever he was staring at and little by little the feeling of dread increased. If Mandarin used the baby's staring to gage where the presence was at the moment, it would place it right near the section of the couch he was sitting on. Right. Behind. Him.

As if on cue, the hair on the back of his neck stood up. He could not see it, but he could feel it and the baby was staring directly at it. And as soon as it had appeared, it was gone. Baby James returned his attention to his bottle and even yawned a little and Gene was left with the aftermath of sensing something more evil than himself.

"Are you going to tell her?" Gene asked without even realizing he had spoken again.

"No," Tony deadpanned, completely unaware of what had just transpired. "Not yet, at least. I'm going to try to fix it first, but I'm going to need some help"

"From me?" Mandarin asked in a tone that denoted nothing of his current shaken state.

"No," Tony shook his head. "I'm a computer guy – I'm not a doctor or a biologist. I need a biologist. Or a biogenetics expert, actually. Someone who understands Extremis better than I do. And someone who understands the consequences of DNA alteration."

"And you know someone like that? You mean S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"I don't think I can trust S.H.I.E.L.D. And no, I didn't mean them."

"Then, who?"

"An old friend… and an ex-girlfriend."

"So," Gene began. "You're not going to tell Pepper you're going to hang around your ex-fiancée?"

"She doesn't need to know. At least not yet. I mean, she knows that Extremis has been messing up and I will tell her I'm looking into it…"

"But you won't tell her there is a chance she'll become a widower? A single woman with a baby that is only months old?"

"That's where you come in," Tony said and stared at Gene. "That's… that's the promise. The promise I want you to make to me is that if –"

Tony's words were interrupted by Gene's right palm and a shake of his head. At first, the genius thought that Gene was declining his assistance but when the Mandarin's eyes stared at the master bedroom's doors and then at the baby, Tony knew that Gene had understood what he had meant to say.

"You don't even have to ask it, Stark. I already would."

xxxXXXxxx

Maya Hansen walked inside her office to find that her stepfather was already waiting for her and by the look on his face she could discern that he had terrible news for her. She had been supposed to provide an update on their experiments directly to their employer more than three days ago, but travel woes and time zone differences had made it practically impossible for her to return to base until now.

She was not sure why she even had to fly back and forth from here to her destination when her employer could easily find the information he needed in the blink of an eye but she had learned not to question his orders after the second time he had placed that metal brace around her neck that had nearly shocked her to death.

She dismissed the unpleasant memory, sighed loudly and then shrugged to answer Killian's unasked question of why it had taken her so long to come back and decided to just give him a brief summary of what she had found out on her own. It was not much but it was relevant and would perhaps please their employer enough to leave them alone for now.

"I have good news and I have bad news. Which one do you want first?"

"The good news," Aldrich immediately replied. "We've got lots of bad news around here already. We don't need another one."

"Well," she began. "The cure is working. It's unbinding him from Extremis."

"Great!" Aldrich clapped in excitement. "How long does he have?"

"As long as we want him to have. As long as we don't pull the trigger, he can suffer with it for days, weeks, months… _years_. I'm going to test it again soon for remote manipulation and reconfiguration, and to confuse him."

"Good! Good! And after only one treatment! All those years you tried to induce it in him with your tonics and it was useless until now." Killian said with a bright smile as he grabbed his electronic tablet and stylus and began making notes of the results. "All thanks to the treatments he received from S.H.I.E.L.D. That is amazing news!"

"It's not amazing enough to make up for the bad news," Maya said. "Actually, nothing is good enough to make up for the bad news."

"What's the bad news?"

"Our target has shifted," she said.

Aldrich momentarily stopped taking notes and stared at the brunette with confusion. "Completely or just the order?"

"The order," she began and sighed aloud. "Turns out that he can see it. Like, right through it, somehow. I… I don't know how or why but… I mean, it doesn't make any sense. Tony's strand of Extremis is not large or overpowering enough to be transferred and… and his ability to connect with computers was coincidental and only there thanks to the arc reactor he had embedded in his chest. And Pepper… well… Extremis almost killed her when she was pregnant with him. It's just impossible for him to develop the ability. It's just impossible. The DNA sample was just not complete enough to do what it did."

Aldrich completely abandoned his task of taking notes of the investigation, shocked as much as Maya was by the indeed terrible news. The presence of a third strand – a second _pure_ strand of Extremis, made their years of work invalid and useless to their employer who was already angry that things were not moving along as quickly as he had expected them to be.

All of their knowledge accumulated over the years was now being challenged by the simple existence of a strand that was never meant to be. A strand carried by someone who should have never been conceived in the first place and who had only served the purpose of giving it to another human who should have died in the womb.

The errors he had made in the past continued to haunt him and this time he was not prepared to deal with the consequences of his selfish acts. Yet the truth was almost completely out there for everyone to see and soon his stepdaughter would realize the actual proportions of this endeavor of his – the endeavor she had been dragged in to under the false pretense of being part of the greater good.

"What does that mean for our project?" He finally asked, if only to measure her current knowledge of his real intentions. "What… is he… is he mad?"

"Pissed. Off. He's demanding an explanation, which I don't have and can't give without… without first-hand experimentation on the subject."

"Experimentation on a sample so young and fragile would mean killing him. Surely you know that."

"I know," Maya nodded. "And he does too and that's exactly what he wants done."

"How tragic," Killian said and stood up. "But that's the world of science. That's the world we live in. Some have to die so that others can live."

"That's a rotten world, if you ask me."

Whatever condescending retort Killian had prepared died on his lips when the door to their lab opened to reveal the man neither of them could stand. Said man smiled brightly at them in that way only someone so full of himself could do and as soon as he was standing before them, he got straight to the point of his visitation.

"The headman has sent instructions," he began. "Your presence is needed in the meeting room, now."

"Now?" Maya asked. "As in: now, NOW?"

"Yes," the man said. "It appears that Whiplash and his team failed to kill Pepper. And Unicorn and the Black Knight have been taken in by S.H.I.E.L.D. We are getting new orders because of that."

"Do we both have to go?" Maya asked and pointed at herself and at Killian. "I have loads to do here. My visit didn't go too well, either."

"If you don't want to go, take it up with him. My job was to come get you and run the meeting with or without you, but don't think for a second I'm vouching for you, Hansen. You're on your own."

"I wouldn't expect you to, Kevin," Maya said and sighed. "You are as backstabbing as AIM – no wonder you work for them. But remember that by now it's just you and us in the picture. You can't afford to lose more of us. We've already lost Rhona, the Maggia and the Hammers. And with Whiplash dead and the other two caught by S.H.I.E.L.D., there is no one left to call the bounty."

"They were useless, anyway. And based on what I've heard, you two are becoming useless, too. The headman is not happy about what he saw."

"We can fix it," Aldrich immediately said. "Samples can always be destroyed. Especially faulty ones."

"Funny," Kevin chuckled as he turned around and headed to the door. "That's what he called you two: faulty samples. Anyway, I'm heading out and starting the meeting in five. I'd hurry up if I were you."

"Is S.H.I.E.L.D. invited to this meeting?" Maya asked.

"No," Kevin said and shook his head. "This is just internal."

"Alright," Killian said and stood up from his chair. "We'll be there, Kowalowski."

"I'm sure you will," Kevin said, waved his hand dismissively at them and then left the lab. He still had to clean up the dead body of Harkov from the meeting room's floor before his other guests arrived. The boss did not take failure lightly and while the scientist's dismembered body would have been a great example of what would happen to those who failed, he did not feel like carrying on a meeting with the stench of blood and charred organs everywhere. The clock was ticking and the execution of their plans needed to be sped up – all of their plans; every single one of them. Even the ones no one else knew he had been given the task to do. It was a dirty job, but someone had to do it. Someone had to deal the lethal blow to Tony Stark.

* * *

**A/N:** Holy cow! That was difficult to write! But, here it is. Sadly, I DO have to move, like ASAP *sigh* so I'm not sure when I can post again. Life sucks sometimes, but we gotta move on, huh? I hope you enjoyed it and I'm sorry if the quality is faulty. It'll get better…after I move… I hope :(


	9. Chapter 8

**Guest Review Responses**

**Toni: Thoroughly entertaining chapter! Thanks Miss Starfire! What are these PLANS?! **–They are HORRIBLE, horrible plans! Plans that will make all of us want to throw rotten vegetables at everyone involved :P

**Maleni: Siempre ven a Pepper como un blanco facil. Apuesto a que esto no pasaria si supiera artes marciales como Gene o tuviera poderes increibles **– Go read my fic "Broken." I think you'll like it.

**Natalia: En ninguna historia Pepper puede ser parte de SHIELD y es lo que tanto a soñado **– I think there's plenty of other stories where Pepper is part of SHIELD. I wanted to portray her as being more than just a SHIELD fangirl and I'm happy with that ^_^

**Cascia: Que honor ser la review numero 100!... please Update soon, necesito una ración extra de pepperony en mi dia ;p **– And what honor it is to have your review here :) Here is your dose of Pepperony. I think you're gonna like it a lot.

**Apps: Noooo Maya Hansen...After so much worse Pep and Tony came together just now and the time is arriving to depart...Noooo...don't do this to them! **– Do not fret, my Faithful Reader! Tony's gonna do what we can't :)

* * *

**Chapter 8: October**

The redhead had fallen asleep hours ago after a long, tiring day at work and at school and her peaceful form currently rested face down on her side of the bed. Next to her slumbering figure, a wide awake Tony Stark sat with his back against the head of the bed; extremely busy with the work displayed on the screen of his portable computer on his lap. Extremely busy with the task of saving his own life, that is, or at least extending it long enough to be able to see his son grow – long enough to be in the company of his beloved ginger one more day and one more night.

Despite it being shortly after midnight and even if he had only been sleeping for four hours at night since Whiplash had tried decapitating his wife, his mind was hard at work trying to find a cure for the instability of his Extremis enhancement. A cure that seemed to evade even Dr. Bruce Banner's amazing intellect despite the advanced technology available at his fingertips, courtesy of Howard and Tony Stark.

Even though her husband had insisted that he could play CEO for her for a little longer while she completely healed, the ginger had declined the offer of an extended hiatus from the company and had returned to full duty only two weeks after her most recent mission – the same one where Happy and Gene had had to intervene. Her cuts and bruises were mostly gone and there had been no psychological scars from this particular near-death experience, and Tony was not sure if her lack of mental shock was something he should have been concerned about.

Was it normal for a person not to fear, to the extreme, the possibility of death? Was it normal for someone not to bat an eye at the thought of blowing up in a suit of armor as long as they took their enemies with them? Was his redhead so used to being in constant danger that she just took her life, one day at a time, for better or for worse? Was he the same?

The deal the couple had worked out in the past was that Tony was the inventor and that she was the gatekeeper. His job was to design and develop inventions and her job was to keep alive the venue where his inventions thrived. It had been a great system for the both of them… until it was not – until Tony had flinched every time Pepper had tried to freely use her left arm that had been damaged in battle. Until the blue-eyed boy had to watch his wife pop pain pills every morning to deal with the ache of a recovering, torn ligament in her shoulder. Until she had asked him if Extremis could be used in her injury to speed up its healing process and he had told her he would look into it to make sure it was safe. He already knew it was not safe. He already knew what it could do to her if administered. He already knew it could kill her; just as it was killing him.

The company was finally completely stable, both from a financial and a managerial standpoint and thanks to their teamwork their corporation was now a well-oiled, self-sufficient machine. Most systems and tasks had been either fully automated or assigned to capable hands for execution, leaving them both with a lot less to do compared to the workload they had been victims of when the company had first been bought from Hammer Multinational. In a few months, the entire company could run itself. In a few months, only one CEO would be enough to carry on the legacy he would leave his son.

But, just because in a few months Pepper could run the company on her own, that did not mean he actively did not want to be around to see it happen.

His eyes were starting to feel dry and itchy with the light of the screen and he rubbed them with his thumb and his index finger on his left hand. His hand then slid to his mouth to cover his silent yawn and after that move he stretched his neck from side to side, making his bones pop loudly. He finished his attempt at staying awake by stretching his arms over his head and once his hands returned to the keyboard, he was surprised by the sound of her whispering voice.

"Unless you're rewriting your will, whatever you're doing can wait until tomorrow."

He stared to his right to observe her face. Her eyes were still closed and had her hand not slid over to his side of the bed and had not patted around the mattress to find his forearm, he would have attributed her words to the product of a dream.

"Did I wake you?" He whispered back, picked up her hand in his and kissed her fingertips. "I can go into the living room."

"No," she told him firmly and finally opened her eyes to stare at his blue ones. "Stay."

She returned his easy smile and then pushed herself up. She kneeled on the bed, scooted over closer to him and after a little readjusting of their positions she finally sat behind him, pressed between the head of the bed and his back. Her thighs surrounded his waist and her hands rested on his shoulders, and before he had a moment to question her intentions, she began massaging his tense muscles in circular motions that immediately made him melt in her touch.

He closed his eyes, groaned and exhaled slowly in bliss before he threw his head back, making sure that he did not hit her face in the process. She in turn increased the pressure of her fingertips on his upper back and shoulder blades and placed random kisses on his neck, shoulders and the left side of his face which brushed against hers.

"Talk to me, Tony," she began after she nibbled on his earlobe and felt his skin covering in goosebumps. "Tell me what's wrong."

He slowly opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling but he made no effort to change his current position. Even though she was months away from completing her concurrent Bachelor and Master degrees in Computer Science in Cyber Security and Operations, the diagrams on the computer screen were far beyond her comprehension. She had become extremely proficient with computers when it came to hacking, manipulating data and breaching security, but biology, chemistry and physics had never been her forte.

Nonetheless, he hung his head, closed the laptop and set it aside. He gulped as he thought about what to respond to her question and how much to relay to her and before his mouth could utter a load of lies, agonizing guilt filled his chest and made him close his mouth instead. He took in a deep breath, exhaled it slowly and in defeat, and then lightly shook his head. "I can't, Pepper. I can't tell you what's wrong."

Her dainty hands stopped their motion and slid from his back to under his arms until her palms rested on his bare chest and she was able to embrace him from behind. She pressed her forehead against the base of his neck, tightened her eyes shut and then whispered to him.

"If… " she licked her lips, "If you can't tell me what's wrong, can you at least tell me if you're going to fix it?"

"I'm trying," he admitted in a low voice that matched hers. His fingers intertwined with hers atop her hands on his chest and he absentmindedly stroked the skin of her hands. Her arms and legs tightened around him and a moment later she rested her chin on his left shoulder.

"Can I help?"

He shook his head again and closed his eyes once more. Pepper bit her bottom lip and swallowed hard. Her mind presented a million possibilities to her, each exponentially worse than the previous, but she kept them to herself. She was aware that something had been perturbing Tony for a few weeks now, but she had expected him to tell her what that was by now. She knew she could find a way to force him to talk or even sneak into his files when he was not looking until she figured out what the issue was, but at this point in their relationship none of those actions seemed justified. Just because they had been together for years and were married, that did not give her the right to not let him have some resemblance of privacy in his life.

"When you're ready, Tony," she kissed his shoulder, "just remember that I —"

"Yes," he interrupted her. "I know, Pep."

"I trust you," she continued and her words surprised him. He had expected her to say that she was there for him, _no matter what_, even though that much was obvious to him given how much they had gone through together. Yet, even with this knowledge present in his mind, her next words shocked him even more; even if at some level he was already aware of how high of a pedestal she had him on. Even if she had always made sure that he never forgot what he meant to her. Even then, he never ceased to be amazed by her.

"I know that, whatever it is, you'll fix it. You'll make it better. I believe in you, Tony. You've never let me down."

And just like that, with those simple words of encouragement and unwavering trust from her, his resolve instantly returned to him. His feelings of utter failure at finding what was wrong with him were overshadowed by her uplifting words and he felt his spirit renew. She had no idea what he was going through. She had no clue that he was having a slow dance with the Grim Reaper. But whatever obstacle it was that he was currently facing that was unknown to her, she trusted him to find a way to make things right.

Her faith in him was the only thing he needed to get through it all.

He shifted his head back and to the side so that he could face her and kissed her lips. The kiss was slow at first but the longer it lasted, the more their positions changed until she was sitting on his lap. His fingers raked her back under her sleep shirt and when she kneeled so that she towered over him, he quickly took advantage of the position to take off her shirt. He tossed it to the side and it landed on the floor and he then returned his full attention to her lips.

He cupped her face in his hands and then slowly slid his way down her bare chest, waist and hips until he reached the straps of her underwear and his fingers played with the thin fabric there. She pulled him back with her; her right arm supported her weight and her left hand circled his neck and before her head was able to hit the mattress, it hit his laptop instead.

"Ouch!" She said with a chuckle as she massaged the back of her head and Tony could not hold back a snicker. Still, he quickly grabbed the laptop from under her and deposited it on the floor, also somewhat amused by the unexpected interruption.

"Sorry about that," he kissed her, chuckled some more and then checked her scalp for blood. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah," she giggled as well. "It surprised me more than it hurt me."

"You sure?"

"Yeah. It's nothing," she replied and then pulled him down to her by using her legs around his waist. "But you still have to make it worth it, Stark."

"Aye, aye, Potts!" He replied with a smile. He then took a moment to admire her flushed, freckled face and the way her long hair sprawled all over the bed around her head. His eyes slowly traveled up and down every inch of skin he could see in the dead of the night and before she could come down from her desire-induced actions, he pressed his lips against hers.

Feeling her hot skin against his and sensing her increasing desire for him made him groan her name in unrestrained pleasure, which only made her want him even more. Even if he knew that his time was limited, even if he knew that he could very well not wake up tomorrow or just wake up to die, he did not let the somber thoughts ruin his mood and the moment he was having with his wife.

If he were to suddenly perish tomorrow and leave her and their son behind, he would at least take his last breath knowing that the last thing his son would remember of him would be of his father reading him a bedtime story, and that his ginger's last memory of him would be of knowing, feeling and hearing from him that she would always hold his heart. And with these thoughts in mind and for the first time in weeks, he allowed himself to ignore the possibility that that this night with her could be his last.

xxxXXXxxx

"So, Pepper, are you aware of the important, upcoming celebration? What are your plans for it?"

Pepper rubbed her face with her hands in an attempt to push away some of the tiredness she felt, but it only served to make her eyes water even more. She then looked up from her laptop on her executive desk in her office to Happy Hogan's form sitting in front of her and she shrugged.

"Uhm, Thanksgiving?"

"Thanksgiving is next month, and we already know where we're all spending it: Rhodey's house."

"Uhm… " her eyes shifted left and right as she searched her mind. "I don't think anyone's birthday's coming up."

"Nope." Happy shook his head and smiled. "We're all done for the year."

The redhead quickly realized that her bodyguard was not going to let the topic die down even if she looked and sounded exhausted from having been staying up late every day for the past week, studying nonstop for her midterms. She really could not blame Happy for not knowing how her month had gone so far, since she now only saw him in the mornings during work since he was also trying to finish up his studies faster by going to class every day, all afternoon.

She scratched the side of her head and then rested her chin on her upturned right hand before she tossed another answer she was sure was not the one the jock was looking for. "Christmas?"

"No, Potts! Sooner than that!"

"I," Pepper sighed. "I don't know, Happy. What am I forgetting?"

"Oh, come on! HALLOWEEN!"

"Huh," she furrowed her brows. "You're right."

"Of course I'm right!" Happy said in a smug tone. "It's only the BEST celebration of the year!"

"I, well," she hesitated. "There's other holidays that I prefer better than, you know… gory ones…"

"No, no, no, Pepper! Nothing compares to Halloween. When was the last time you got a chance to do something awesome for Halloween, huh?"

"I, uhm…" She lifted her left hand to gesture her explanation but promptly came to the conclusion that she had _no_ details to give. "Well, I… huh…"

She pressed her back against her chair and rapped the fingers of her right hand on the desk. Her eyes stared in every direction and she frowned as she genuinely considered Happy's question.

Last year during Halloween she had been pregnant and Rhona Erwin had tried killing Tony, so celebrating the candy holiday had not been at the top of her to-do list. The year before that she had spent it separated from the inventor and she had drowned her sorrows in doing volunteer work, and during Halloween she had locked herself in her dorm room to avoid the pranksters that had been roaming the halls of her college building.

Three years ago she had spent it working late at night at Stark Solutions after spending a weekend with Scott in a cabin in the woods. Four years ago she had also not celebrated the day because she had been worried sick about her midterms in her last year of high school and the year before that she had been too busy doing recon for Tony that she had just given up dressing up and going out since he had needed her presence at the lab.

"Six years," she said more to herself than to the jock. "The last time I celebrated Halloween was six years ago."

Coincidentally, that was the same amount of time she had known Tony Stark.

Happy's jaw dropped. He shook his head from side to side in a highly disapproving manner and then slammed is left palm on the desk, startling the redhead from her daydreaming.

"That's unacceptable, Pepper! This year we HAVE to celebrate!"

"But, but, Happy, I –"

"NO BUTS!" Hogan said and stood up from the guest chair in Pepper's Stark Solutions' office. "This is not just any other Halloween, Pepper. This is Jimmy's FIRST Halloween! This is HUGE!"

"Oh," Pepper began. "Oh, shit! You're right! My son's first Halloween!"

"Finally!" Happy said and crossed his arms over his chest. "Took you long enough. So, what's the plan?"

"I-I…" She opened and closed her mouth as several ideas came to mind, but when she remembered that Tony had been working around-the-clock on something that was not all that fine, she hesitated in saying something that could potentially commit any of them to an event or activity. "I don't know, Happy. I have to check with Tony first."

"What? You think Tony wouldn't want to also celebrate his son's first Halloween?"

"I, well, I-I'm not sure. Tony… Tony has never been the type to do stuff like this."

"That's true," Happy said, his right index finger raised. "But he's crazy about his son. He'll do anything for him."

The ginger held back a response to his comment so that she did not give Happy the wrong impression that celebrating Halloween was a done deal, but she could wholeheartedly agree with the statement. Tony was obsessed with giving his son everything and anything he needed or wanted – just as he was obsessed with doing the same for his redheaded wife.

The high-chair and car seat they used for their baby had been designed and constructed by the inventor himself. The baby toys they had lost when their former apartment had been invaded (by what she was convinced had been Satan's crows) had been rebuilt and Howie had begun using them weeks ago. It had been Tony's insistence and patience with their son that had allowed the infant to learn how to use a baby bottle ahead of the curve and Pepper was certain that her husband's efforts would not stop there. The baby had begun babbling already and even though there were no discernable words yet, she could anticipate baby James saying his first word sometime very soon – much sooner than what any normal baby would be expected to.

And, if that had not been enough, Tony had begun reading the little boy stories at night to lure him to sleep – from books the genius had made himself. The stories ranged from silly moments they had all shared when growing up, to incredible adventures as Team Iron Man. The situations had been diluted enough so that they were not as intense or as graphic as their real experiences had been, but they were still interesting enough for even her to want to listen to them when Tony narrated them to their boy.

"_And then," Tony said and flipped the page of the e-book on his tablet, "the evil ruler told the smart, handsome hero that he couldn't keep the beautiful, redhead princess with him because it was against his laws. But the hero was not going to let it stop him and he challenged the ruler for the hand of the princess."_

"_Is that a sketch of the Mandarin?" Pepper asked, her head looking over Tony's shoulders at the drawings in the book he had written two days ago. "Oh, my God, Tony! Did you make Gene the evil ruler?"_

"_What?" He shrugged in a way that told Pepper he found nothing wrong with his casting choice for the villain. "I made you a beautiful, redhead princess, doesn't that mean anything to you?"_

"_Well, it would've," she said and rolled her eyes. "If you hadn't made yourself the smart hero. You're so full of yourself, Tony."_

"_Uh, Pepper: It's the smart, HANDSOME hero. Get it right, please."_

"_Oh, yes!" She rolled her eyes again. "How could I forget the handsome part?"_

"_Don't know. You must be crazy, woman."_

The redhead chuckled and shook her head at the memory and when she realized that Happy was staring at her as if she were crazy, she cleared her throat and looked back at her computer screen. "I can't promise you anything, Happy, but I will ask Tony about it, alright?"

"That sounds like a 'yes' to me!"

"No, Happy! It's not a yes. I need to talk to Tony. He's been very busy with his… inventions, and I've been very busy with work and school, and –"

"And that's the reason WHY you two need to relax. Besides, I already got Howie his costume."

"W-what?" Pepper's eyes widened. "What did you get him?"

"What else? A basketball uniform!"

"A basketball uniform?"

"Yeah! We can't let Jimmy turn out to be a nerd like his parents. He needs to be athletic and cool!"

"A n-nerd? I am NOT a nerd!"

"You married one. So, that makes you a nerd by default."

"Oh, man!" She threw her arms in the air and then let them drop on her desk with a thud that she knew she was going to regret later; her shoulder was still not at full range of motion yet and Tony had finally told her that injecting her with Extremis was not all that safe for her given her history with the virus. The silence in the office, however, lasted only for about two seconds before they both burst into loud laughter; one so intense that once they were done, their stomachs hurt. Pepper wiped tears from her eyes and sighed deeply as she watched Happy do the same with his face.

"Anyway," Happy began and picked up his backpack from the floor. "I gotta go to class. You gonna be alright?"

"Yeah, I'm actually leaving early today. In half an hour or so. I got stuck with a group project and I have a few of my classmates coming into to the penthouse today."

"What's the project about?"

"We have to design a few software options and then test them for vulnerabilities. The professor is going to attempt to hack them in class to see if we have learned to create programs that are difficult to hack into."

"Gonna have Tony help you?"

"No," she shook her head. "Tony's not even here. He's at Stark International with his dad and Howie."

"Doing what?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Some other inventions I'll never understand?"

"Perhaps. Tony sometimes has the weirdest ideas, but that's just who he is."

"Yup," Pepper agreed and did not let the worry she felt for his latest issue show on her face. "That's my Tony."

"Oh, well! We have enough smart people in the world. Let's keep it that way."

"Alright, Happy," she chuckled. "See you later."

"See you later, Pep!" Happy retorted and with those words he left the office of Pepper Potts-Stark.

xxxXXXxxx

"I see you still wear the dog tags," Maya Hansen stated as she stared at a shirtless and barefooted Tony Stark sitting on the edge of a gurney in a private lab at Stark International, wires and sensors attached to his skin. Ever since he and his son had arrived at the tower hours ago, Maya and Dr. Banner had been taking turns analyzing the data collected in the past few weeks and at the persistence of the inventor, they had also began testing potential cures for his Extremis problem. None of them had worked so far, but with every test that was executed, Dr. Banner was beginning to see that the big picture of the puzzle was becoming more and more complete and distinct.

"You must really like them," she added when Tony did not respond to her initial comment while she walked over to him and began carefully pulling the wires from his body.

"Of course I do," Tony said, attempting to keep the conversation as general as possible. He was not certain why, but he felt uncomfortable with the brunette around, even after weeks of working with her on this assignment and even if Bruce was always standing nearby. He was not sure if it was because his redhead was not aware that he had sought her out for help and felt as if he was somehow cheating on his wife by just being in the same room as his ex-fiancée, or perhaps his discomfort originated from the feeling he had that the brunette was still romantically interested in him.

"Pepper gave them to me," he added to clarify his response and to subtlety remind Maya that the ginger was still very much in the picture and in his mind and heart. "She put a lot of effort into the thought and the gift, so the least I can do for her is wear them."

"Huh," she said, tongue-in-cheek, her tone of voice matching her condescending-looking face. "That sounds to me more like you're wearing them because she'll feel bad if you don't. I didn't know she was the boss of you, Tony."

"And that sounds to me like you're jealous that you couldn't figure out how to have me at your feet." Tony deadpanned with narrowed eyes. "Pepper can be the boss of me whenever she feels like it."

"Well, seeing that she's already used you for her benefit, it doesn't surprise me that you _think _that she can do whatever she wants with you and make you believe that you are OK with that. Whatever happened to the Tony that didn't take orders from anyone? I never thought I'd see the day that Tony Stark was so easily manipulated by a total con artist like her."

"What did you just say?" Tony finished pulling off the wires from himself and he then jumped off the gurney. His right hand grabbed onto Maya's upper arm to keep her from fleeing and he shook her lightly as he spoke. "What the fuck are you saying, Maya? Are you really _that _bitter that I chose her over you?"

"Did you?" She asked with a smirk, her face not one of a person that was currently experiencing physical pain from the grip the inventor had on her arm. "Are you sure that it's been _you _who's been making these choices? When was the last time you made a decision that didn't involve asking her opinion or taking her feedback into consideration? When was the last time you acted like a _real man_ and made a choice that was your own?"

Tony further narrowed his eyes at her as he released her arm, but he was unable to respond with an answer that contradicted her statements. Maya snickered when she realized that Tony had nothing to say and she then crossed her arms over her chest before she spoke again.

"Well?" She began with a shrug. "I'm waiting for you to prove me wrong. Wasn't it Pepper the one who gave you the idea to make her a suit of armor? Wasn't it her idea, too, to buy Hammer Multinational to expand your company? Wasn't it her actions that left you responsible for a son that you hadn't planned on having any time soon? A son that, by the way, more than secures her interest and ownership in your company and assures that – in the event that you were to _die_ for whatever reason – she can inherit all of the billions you are worth as the only surviving parent of your son?" She chuckled again and shook her head. "Best of all: wasn't it _her_ decision to make you give up being Iron Man – the only part of your life she really couldn't control?"

"I-I don't know what your point is," Tony said and swallowed hard.

"My point is: how do you know that Pepper is not responsible for your issue with Extremis?"

"Are you stupid?" Tony spat and resisted the urge to throw something at her smiling face. "Pepper would never do this to me! She would never hurt me!"

"Really? Because as far as I know, she's hurt you plenty so far. Didn't she move out of your apartment after you told her you loved her? Didn't she get engaged to Scott and almost married him, knowing that you still wanted to be with her? Didn't she make you forget how you two slept together the night you were supposed to marry me?"

"So, what? Those were just misunderstandings. I've hurt her, too, but that doesn't mean she'd purposefully try to hurt me. Besides, she doesn't even know how Extremis works! She wouldn't even KNOW how to do this to me. And if she did know, she wouldn't try to kill me with it."

"Tony, you're so blinded with love… or by what you think is love. Have you ever wondered why or how you fell for her, so hard, so fast? It had never happened to you before but with her… you just lost it. Your world revolves around her in a way that is not healthy. In a way that is not at all… _natural_."

"Just because no one has loved you like I love her, it doesn't mean it's not real."

"Really?" She repeated. "Extremis made you, for all practical purposes, a computer, Tony, and computers_ can_ be hacked; manipulated, influenced to simulate whatever we want them to do. A good programmer can make a computer do that and much more; especially if that someone knows the circuitry and systems, in and out – _especially_ if that someone will soon become a certified cybersecurity expert. A.K.A. A legal computer hacker."

"What are you trying to say?"

"What Bruce refuses to tell you so that he won't hurt you," Maya said and spared Bruce a glance just to see his face blanch. "That whatever you're suffering from is not biological; it's _technological_. Your body is not betraying you, Tony. It's your programming. Your link to Extremis is being hacked by a virus of the computer kind. That's why nothing we've done to help you has worked. Because it's not biology that's screwing with you. It's your wife."

Tony's eyes moved from glaring at Maya's to staring at Bruce's and the look of sadness written all over the doctor's face told Tony that the Hulk alter ego agreed with the brunette's findings – even if he did not agree on the source of the issue, even if the doctor did not believe Pepper was the reason for Tony's trouble, he did agree that the problem was indeed technical and not organic in origin.

"You're wrong," Tony mumbled and stared at the floor. His mind raced as he thought about Maya's words; wanting nothing more than to find any speck of information he could share with her to prove her suspicions were unjustified but he could not think clearly. The hours of experiments done on him and the anger – the _rage_, that he currently felt towards this woman that stood before him clouded his mind. He knew that they, her words, were just words of jealousy; of misdirected resentment towards his redhead who had never done anything to harm the brunette.

He knew her words were hollow, untrue and unfounded, but he could not help feeling his blood boil at hearing such accusations against the woman that had given him a child. It appeared to the inventor that Maya blamed Pepper for their misfortune, for their failed relationship, but the ginger had never done anything to purposefully separate him from his former fiancée.

"Pepper would never do this to me." He finally looked up and dug holes in her with his eyes. "You're just full of shit, Maya. I never thought you'd be that petty. I… I think we're done here. If… if you can't help me, then…"

The genius shook his head and gave a nod to Bruce before he grabbed his shoes and shirt and left the lab. Maya's eyes followed Tony's figure until he disappeared behind the slamming door and once she was certain that he was beyond hearing range, she sighed loudly and turned around in place to stare at the disapproving-looking doctor behind her.

"You didn't have to be that rude, Dr. Hansen. We only needed a few reactions to verify our data."

"Well, we needed to make sure that the data was absolutely conclusive, didn't we?" She asked and began walking over to where Bruce stood by the computer screens. "There was no other way to make sure of it."

"Yes, I know." Bruce said as he pulled up the final results of the test Maya had helped run on Tony just now, unbeknownst to him. "But I think that you went a little too far with it. You could be causing a divorce."

"Tony and Pepper, divorcing?" Maya scoffed. "You'd have better luck finding a cure for your gamma ray issue than those two splitting up. Besides, what are you complaining about? You said you couldn't do it, so I stepped in."

"I'd never insult Tony or Pepper like that. They helped me when no else would. I owe them and Howard a lot."

"Yeah, well, Tony hates me anyway, so nothing's been broken by my acting." She said with a shrug before her eyes scanned the same reports Bruce was analyzing at the moment and both scientists were happy to see that their theories were correct. According to the readings taken from his body's reaction to his emotional state, Tony Stark was being influenced by a virus, but his feelings toward the ginger were real.

xxxXXXxxx

Returning home without his son felt strange to him, but after Howard and Virgil has asked for their grandson for the weekend, Tony had not been able to deny them the chance to let James spend time with the other family members that loved his son as much as he and Pepper did. Now that Howie was a little bit older, he was able to better handle being away from his parents and since he no longer nursed, the little guy was becoming more and more independent by the day. Independent: just as his parents had been forced to become from a very young age, although for very different reasons he hoped his son never had to face.

He waved at Bambi who was still at her desk and he gave her a small smile that she immediately returned. He was not expected to come back so soon but he wanted to put as much distance between Maya and himself after that little number she had pulled on him. He was not sure what had prevented him from immediately slapping the living crud out of her after she had all but insulted Pepper, but now that he thought about it, it had probably been the fact that deep inside he knew that the brunette was not worth his time.

_I should've never asked her to come help me_, he told himself. _I should've just let her stay wherever she now lives and never talked to her ever again._

If Tony had ever wondered what a woman who fit the bill of a petty bitch would be like, Maya Hansen had to be just it. He had known that Maya had always held some resentment over the fact that even when dating her, Pepper had always been his number one concern, but he had never imagined that the brunette would go to such great lengths to put down the woman he loved.

_I'm glad that's over. At least I don't have to see her ever again._

His morose thoughts and downcast look instantly dissipated the moment he opened the door to his home and he found that his wife was not alone.

"Keep at it, suckers!" The redhead said with an overly confident tone, hands on her hips. "You're never cracking my code. I'm the best goddamned hacker in this class. I'm totally earning that degree!"

"That's not fair, Potts!" One of the five young men sitting around their dining table with a laptop each in front of them, said. "You're, like, married to the top computer guy in the world! You have an advantage over us!" He added and pointed to the floating, virtual screen that showed their attempts at breaking Pepper's code.

"Yeah! An unfair advantage!" A second man said and sighed when his latest effort to hack into Pepper's software failed. "There's no way anyone is going to hack your system in class. You have Tony Stark as a mentor!"

"Tony had nothing to do with this code," Pepper clarified. "If he did, I wouldn't be able to crack it either. If you think this is hard, you should see his code lines. Un-_freaking_-breakable."

"I don't know about that," Tony said from his position by the door and a small smile grew on his face at seeing his girl. "I think you can give me a run for my money, Pep."

"Holy shit!" One of the classmates of Pepper said and stood up, frantically pointing at the inventor as he approached the redhead. "That's… that's… holy fucking shit!"

"Oh, fuck!" The fourth classmate of Pepper began. "T-T-Tony… Tony…"

"TONY FUCKING STARK!" The classmate who had been quiet up to now, finally said for everyone else.

"Uh, yeah. Hi, strangers in my home," Tony said with an amused smile. "Hey, babe," he then added once he reached Pepper, gave the redhead a kiss on her cheek and tugged lightly on her right hand. "How's it going?"

"I'll tell you how it's going," she said and pointed her left index finger at every single one of her project peers as she spoke. "Doug has tried 357 times to hack my code and hasn't been able to do so. Tyrone gave up after the third try and has been playing solitaire ever since. Edgar is pretending to try to break the code every five minutes or so, but in reality he has been watching porn videos for the past hour. Roger has tried 478 times to break into the same line he thinks is the weakness for the software but he's wrong – I put that line there on purpose to throw people off," she snickered and waved her hand and Tony's smile widened. "And Jeremy has a huge crush on you and wants you to autograph the cover of his laptop."

The five men stopped typing at the same time only to stare between Pepper and Tony and after a few seconds of silence, Roger finally spoke up and asked Tony the question that was on everyone's mind. "Dude, how do you get away with _anything_ around here?"

"I don't," Tony said with an exaggerated defeated sigh and a shrug. "Story of my life."

The look of a pouting child on the inventor's face made Pepper throw her head back in laughter and earned him a kiss on the cheek. She then shook her head and gave him a quick sideways hug before she pulled him with her to the kitchen and away from the five young men who went back to their hacking task to give the couple some privacy. It was one thing to know that their classmate was the wife of genius inventor Tony Stark, but it was something completely different to actually see them interact like the "normal" couple they were.

"I ordered some pizza," she whispered to him once they reached the kitchen and he pressed her against the counter. She circled his neck with her arms, tilted her head to the side and gave him that warm smile of hers that showed up only when she felt extremely accomplished with herself. "Want some? I ordered your favorite even though I didn't think you'd be back so soon."

Tony gave her a sideways smirk and surrounded her waist with his arms in such a way that his thumbs and index fingers pressed against the sides of her stomach but his other three fingers rested on the kitchen counter so that she was _trapped_ between his body and the flat surface behind her. "Pepperoni, double cheese?"

"Yup," she said with a nod. "Where's Jimmy?"

"He was kidnapped by his grandparents and won't be returned until Sunday afternoon."

Pepper's head recoiled in surprise but after a second of thinking about the situation and realizing that this meant that she and Tony had the weekend for themselves, she shrugged in acceptance. "Oh, well. As long as they don't complain that he's starting to scream for no reason, I think that's OK."

It was Tony's turn to chuckle lightly before he stole a quick glance at the men sitting at his dining table; the same men who were now alternating glances between their computer screens and the power couple in the kitchen. "What's with the fan boys?"

"They're not MY fan boys, as you just witnessed," she said. "They're my group project team."

"All guys? Really?"

"There aren't that many girls in the class. There's, like, four of us, I think, and none of them like me. You know how it's always been; I seem to make friends with boys easier than with girls. Girls hate me. Especially when they realize who I married."

Tony nodded but remained silent while his eyes stared deeply into her sparkling ones as if he could read her thoughts. Her words reminded him of the argument he had just had with Maya Hansen regarding the possibility that Pepper was the reason for his Extremis illness and he instantly felt guilty for ever considering – even if just for a nanosecond – that the redhead would ever plot against him or his life.

There was no trace of insincerity on her face; nothing that supported Maya's crazy theories of personal revenge. No one like Pepper would have ever remained with someone like him, through all the troubles and tribulations that naturally seemed to find him, just so that she could murder him in the end. Even on their worst days and even if the redhead had no trouble telling him exactly how she felt and what she thought about him, in the end she always had his back. Even if she believed him and called him crazy for some of the things he did and said, at the end of it all she always stuck around for him.

_Maya's wrong_, Tony thought. _She's wrong on so many levels. I'm so sorry, Pep. I'm so sorry I doubted you for even an instant, _he mentally apologized to his wife.

Pepper stared back at him and tilted her head from side to side with a questioning look until a bright smile beamed on her face. "You fixed it, didn't you?"

"What?"

"The problem? You fixed it, right?"

"What makes you think that?"

"You have that look on your face."

"What look?"

"That one!" She smiled and pointed to his face with her chin. "Something big happened, didn't it? What was it? Is the problem gone?"

"YES!" Roger screamed and interrupted Tony's response. The two heroes turned their faces to stare at the group of undergrads and saw Roger's arms were in the air. "I GOT YOU, POTTS!"

"What?" Pepper asked with narrowed eyes.

"I cracked your code!" Roger replied with a triumphant smile. "I've outsmarted the wife of Tony Stark!"

Pepper snickered and shook her head. "Did you use line 598? Just now?"

"Uhm, yes? Why?"

"I hope you have a backup of your files." She sing-songed.

"W-why?"

"Because in about five seconds, your hard drive is gonna be wiped clean." She said with a smug smile and Tony bit back a laugh.

"WHAT?"

"In three, two, _one_," Pepper said and the moment her countdown ended, Roger's hands went to the sides of his face and he screamed loudly, thus confirming that one of the _many_ traps Pepper had hidden in the software had done its job.

"NOOOOOOOOO! PEPPER! WHYYYY?!" Roger bellowed as he repeatedly slammed his forehead against the keyboard of his laptop while the screen showed an animated picture of a dancing banana – Pepper's idea of adding insult to injury in her code.

Tony smiled proudly at his wife's skills and pulled her closer to him. Pepper spared him a glance and a playful wink and as she was about to lean closer to him to kiss his lips, Edgar's dejected tone of voice made her stop in her tracks.

"Potts: 125, 896… " He said as he sulked in the chair when his laptop's screen showed the same dancing banana animation that was currently displaying on all of their laptops; the sure indication that their hard drives were being wiped as well, before he finally finished his hopeless-sounding statement. "Us: _zilch_."

xxxXXXxxx

Three pairs of eyes were glued to the pile of small boxes and bags lying on the coffee table of the living room of the Stark Solutions penthouse. It had all started out as a joke when Happy had brought up the fact that he was yet to receive an answer for his invitation to celebrate Halloween and of how he deserved a positive reply after he had already bought baby James an outfit of a basketball player for him to wear.

Apparently, word had spread that Tony and Pepper were planning on dressing up their son for Halloween – even if they had not decided yet – and little by little other_ recommended_ outfits had suddenly appeared at their doorstep. At first the couple had thought it to be a joke and that perhaps another betting pool was running amongst their family and friends, but they had quickly come to the realization that it was not a gag. Everyone wanted to dress up the little boy that was currently sitting in his high-chair in the living room, eating peas with his fingers from a bowl all by himself, and Tony and Pepper wanted to pull out their hair in frustration with the situation.

"Why do we _have_ to do this, Happy?" Tony asked, arms folded over his chest. His back rested against the couch and his uninterested posture made it clear that he was hardly enjoying his time deciding what costume baby James was going to wear in a couple of days for the candy-rush holiday.

"Because it's tradition, Stark," Happy said for the twentieth time. "What will you tell Howie, twenty years from today, when he asks you what you did for his first Halloween?"

"Happy," Pepper began, "Twenty years from now, Jimmy is going to be five months away from turning twenty-one. I doubt he'll be asking us anything other than when he can go to Vegas to legally drink for the first time."

"That's not the point," Happy said. "The point is that you have about twenty different Halloween costume options here right now and you need to decide which one he's going to wear."

"But, I want to dress him with the outfit _I_ bought for him," Pepper whined, index finger pointed toward her chest.

"I've already vetoed that, Pep," Tony reminded her. "No son of mine is dressing like a fucking, wimpy panda."

"Tony!" Pepper slapped his knee. "Stop cussing in front of the baby! And what's wrong with the little panda outfit I got him? It's so cute!"

"What's wrong with it? Where do you want me to start?"

"Ugh! You know darn well that there's nothing wrong with it, Stark! You just don't like it because it's not the Iron Man suit you made for him."

"Well, duh!" Tony said and rolled his eyes. "He's my kid! He SHOULD wear the Iron Man outfit for Halloween."

"Well, he's my kid, too, and I want him to BE A CUTE, BABY PANDA!" The redhead's fists and head shook every which-a-way and her last words were high-pitched and loud, which caused the inventor and the jock to flinch and cover their ears. It had been a long time – perhaps years – since Pepper had reverted to her old ways of making her opinion be heard and Tony had forgotten what it was like.

"Well, what about the other two dozen outfits we have to choose from?" Tony said after the buzzing in his ears stopped. "What are we gonna do about those?"

"I don't know!" Pepper groaned and her shoulders slumped. "Can't we just say we never got them?"

"That ain't gonna fly, Pepper," Happy said with a shake of the head. "They were all sent with receipt signature required, remember? And either you or Tony signed for all of them."

The ginger moaned louder and kicked her feet in desperation before she practically slammed her forehead on Tony's right shoulder. "Why does this happen to us, Tony? I didn't even want to celebrate this stupid gore-infested holiday!"

Tony smiled at his wife's overdramatic display of frustration and after he surrounded her with his right arm and pulled her closer to his chest, he kissed the top of her head. "Well, we don't _have_ to celebrate it, Pep. Howie won't even know what he missed."

"I know," she mumbled, her voice muffled by his chest until she looked up at his face. "But I'll be no better than my own mom if I let my disgust for this celebration mess up my son's first Halloween."

"Then don't let it, Pepper!" Happy said and interrupted Tony's response. "All you gotta do is pick one of these costumes and roll with it. It's just a few hours, not even half a day, and it will be over until next year."

"And maybe you can wear that pirate wench outfit to bed that night. I'll take it off you," Tony whispered in Pepper's left ear and she elbowed him for it. She then rubbed her face and eyes with her fingertips to hide the light blush that came to her with Tony's comment and after a loud sigh she finally nodded.

"OK. Fine. You win. What do we have?"

"There's the Iron Man suit," Tony offered and even though he tried to sound nonchalant about it, Pepper knew better than to believe his attempt.

"Heck, no!" She shook her head. "You vetoed my cute, baby panda costume, so I'm vetoing your Iron Man suit."

"Fine!" Tony replied but did not let go of her.

"OK, what about this one?" Happy asked and pulled out of a box the outfit he had gotten for the baby.

"Veto!" Both parents said in unison.

"WHY?"

"Because since we're the only ones here and voting, we're going to try to vote for our stuff," Pepper reasoned. "So let's vote that we don't vote for what we want to vote for, huh? What do you say?"

"I say…" Happy began, his eyes narrowed to slits as he tried to process what the redhead had just said, but immediately gave up. "I don't… I don't speak 'Pepper.' What did your wife just say?" He asked, his eyes on Tony and his finger pointing at the redhead.

"She said we shouldn't vote for our own stuff or we won't get anything done."

"Oh! OK. I get it. I don't agree with it, but I get it."

"Alright!" Pepper clasped her hands together and stood up. "Let's see what we have."

The first bag held a scientist uniform, complete with a classic, white lab coat and goggles, courtesy of none other than Howard Stark. The veto for the costume was almost spoken in unison by the three adults in the room and the outfit was placed back inside the bag and the bag on the floor by the dining table and away from living room.

"How about this one?" Happy asked as he took out a little formal suit that came with a small briefcase. "What is this, anyway?"

"That's Roberta's suggestion," Pepper said with a smirk.

"What's it supposed to be?" Tony asked and grabbed the costume from the jock. "Is this… Is this a freaking lawyer costume?"

"Yup," Pepper answered. "I think I even saw a second costume in that bag."

"It's a judge!" Happy said as he took out said outfit. "It even comes with a gavel!"

"Oh, brother," Tony rolled his eyes. "And I thought Rhodey's War Machine suggestion was bad."

"Well, if he can't be Iron Man, he can't be War Machine either." Pepper reassured him and it somehow made the inventor feel better about his son not honoring his father's superhero legacy in the smallest of ways.

"What about this one?" Happy asked while Pepper took the judge and lawyer outfits to the stack of vetoed costumes. "I think this is a… a… what is this?"

"I'm not sure," Pepper said and grabbed the outfit from Happy. The box had no sender's name and she had not been the one who had signed for it; it had been her husband. "Let's put it together. I'm not sure what it is, honestly."

Little by little the outfit came together and the more pieces she saw of the costume, the surer she was that Tony was going to throw a fit once he realized what they were looking at. It was not, however, until Tony took out the last item from the box that it dawned on him what the costume was. The irritated twitch of his right eye was noticeable to her and Happy and even though she knew she should have been somewhat as upset as Tony was getting, she could not hold back the smile that graced her face when the inventor held the last piece of the costume in his hands.

The last part of the costume, that one that surely gave it all away, was a tiny, leather _eye patch_.

"Is that a… is that… oh, boy," the jock said when he also pieced together the outfit. "This ain't gonna be good."

The eye patch shook in Tony's trembling hand and not even Pepper's comforting hand on his made his anger dissipate. "Tony, don't –"

"Are you kidding me?" The inventor spat and interrupted the ginger's plea. "Are you fucking _kidding_ me?"

"Tony," Pepper said softly but firmly. "Please, watch your language."

"But, Pepper!" He crushed the patch in his hand. "Why the hell does this asshole think it's even _appropriate_ to send ANYTHING to my son?"

"Tony, I know you're upset but…"

"NO!" He said and began crumpling the costume back in the box. "How dare he? HOW THE HELL DARE HE? I'm going to go to the Helicarrier and shove this box up his motherfucking ass!"

"TONY!"

"ONY!"

And with that babbling echo of his name coming from the toddler in the room, all three adults inwardly gasped in shock.

They slowly shifted their heads and eyes to where the high-chair still stood, baby inside, and were greeted with the sight of the little boy scrunching his nose in a similar fashion as Pepper's had just been seconds ago. The trio then silently exchanged looks and when their eyes returned to the baby again, the word was spoken once more, this time not as a shout but as a mere whisper and accompanied by an uncoordinated finger pointed at his father.

"Ony."

Pepper choked back a happy sob and Tony and Happy's jaws went slack. The redhead then slowly walked over to her son and leaned her face closer to him, a wide smile on her face. "Honey, did you say something?"

The baby returned his mother's smile and spat some saliva bubbles but did not say anything else. She then stood up straight and bit down her bottom lip before she opened her mouth and uttered one word.

"Tony."

The baby did not repeat the word this time around but his blue eyes did immediately find his father's and his toothless gums showed even more of themselves with how wide he was smiling at the billionaire. Pepper could not see Tony's face at the moment since her back was to him, but if she had been able to witness the current look he wore, she would have broken down in tears of joy for it.

His mouth still hung as did his shoulders but now his eyes glistened. He closed his mouth only to swallow down the knot forming in his chest when he came to the understanding that his son not only had just spoken his first word, but that he also for the first time showed them he recognize his father by name and look. He would have definitely preferred he called him 'Dad,' but the mere fact that his little boy now knew who he was, that his father existed and was in his life, made the inventor's heart skip a beat.

The silence in the room was then broken by baby James slamming his empty bowl of food on the counter and the three adults sighed aloud.

"Are you still hungry, baby?" Pepper asked and lifted her son from the high-chair. "Do you want some more food?"

At the mention of the possibility that his son still felt some hunger, Tony walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a glass bottle of baby food. The toddler had been handling different types of flavors and foods better than expected at his age and no signs of allergic reactions had presented themselves as of yet, so they had recently expanded their choice of solid foods for their son.

Tony, who was still in shock from hearing his son acknowledging him, could not stop his hands from shaking even when Pepper brought the baby with her to the kitchen where the inventor stood. She placed the baby on the counter and after making sure he would not suddenly fall from it, she grabbed the bottle from Tony's trembling hands. She tried opening the bottle herself but the sweat that had transferred over it from Tony's skin prevented her from even getting a good hold on the metal cap.

"Tony, are you OK?" She finally asked him and placed the bottle back on the counter to hold Tony's face in her hands. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he told her and then scoffed. "Did… did you hear him?"

The tone of excitement was evident in his voice and Pepper smiled widely at how touched he was with the situation. She nodded to him and pressed a kiss to his lips before she pulled away and spoke. "Yeah, I heard him. I think all that reading you've been doing for him at night is finally paying off."

"That or you yell my name too many times, Pep."

"It could be," she suggested, "but I think he learned your name so that he could call out to you. You're his daddy, after all. You're the one he's looking forward to being with. I'm… I'm hardly ever here… I… well… I'll have more time, soon."

"Pepper," he began, sensing the tone of regret in her voice. It was true that she had been extremely busy with the company and her last semester in school, but he knew that neither he nor his son had a grudge against her being away for so long and staying up really late at night. She had to do what she had to do and he knew better than anyone that sometimes the best thing your family could do for you was letting you do what you had to handle on your own.

"Six weeks," he told her. "Only six more weeks and you'll be free from school."

"I know," she said with a nod. "I just," she sighed, not sure how to begin spilling her remorse to him. She closed her eyes tightly for a second and when she opened them again as she heard a strange noise nearby, they suddenly turned as wide as saucers. She had looked away from Tony's face for a moment to stare at baby James, and the sight of him surprised the hell out of her. "Tony… look…"

The genius slowly shifted his head so that he too stared at their son and his eyes mimicked his wife's. Happy, who had also heard the popping sound as well just a second ago and it had made him walk to the kitchen to join the family, was also staring in awe at the scene unfolding before them.

Baby James was holding the bottle of baby food in his right hand as he clumsily took it to his mouth to lick it. His left hand held the metal cap and when he heard Pepper gasp his name, the little boy looked up to stare at his mom with curious eyes. The tip of his nose and his lips were dirty with food stains but none of the three young adults could make their bodies move to wipe his face.

"We," Pepper swallowed. "We must've… loosened it… right? The cap?"

"I… I couldn't twist it." Tony said. "Did you open it?"

"No," she shook her head. "I… it was slippery… I didn't even…"

"Did he," Happy said. "Did he just… oh, wow…" The bodyguard could not finish his sentence. He knew first-hand how difficult those baby food bottles were to open to them, and they were adults – very strong adults. There was no way a baby – a nearly seven-month-old baby, could open it as easily as it appeared it had been for James.

"Tony," she exhaled. "What, did he… I thought he didn't…"

"I-I… I don't know anymore, Pep." Tony admitted. "But, I checked him. There was nothing. There was… there was no indication."

"Whoa!" Happy said, enthusiasm filling his entire body. "Do you guys know what this means?"

Tony and Pepper eyed each other with worry; a thousand questions flooded their minds, but none of them even made it out of their lips. A quick, silent conversation took place between the couple and it was not until Happy picked up the little boy from the counter and praised him for his skills that either of them said another word.

"What," Pepper said, not truly sure if she wanted to hear the answer to the question, but she did not want to ask the actual inquiry that was in her mind. "What does it mean, Happy?"

"It means," Happy began, "that we get to dress him as the Hulk!"

Leave it to Harold Hogan to know how to break the tension in a room.

* * *

**A/N:** SOOOOOOOOO sorry about the long wait but it's been CRAZY! I'm moving this weekend and I don't know when I'll be around here again. But, please don't lose hope. Sadly (I guess), I've become a fan of the show _Arrow_ and it's dragging me away from IMAA, but I will not leave this story or the entire arc unfinished. It just might take longer than expected to get it out ;) Honestly, if it wasn't for your reviews, I'd probably wouldn't have posted this before I moved. I know it took two weeks, but I hope the chapter made up for the wait. Anyway, if you're not a fan of _Arrow_, go watch it. It's like freaking _Armored Adventures_ but in "real" life. You'll see what I mean when you watch it ^_^ Until then, thank you, my Faithful Readers, for being here and sticking around!


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